"Even Virat Kohli brought discipline to keep his ego aside" - Wasim Jaffer on the challenges of playing in England 

Former Indian batsman Wasim Jaffer cited Virat Kohli's example to explain why the batters need to keep their ego aside when playing a Test in English conditions.

In an interview with Scroll.in ahead of the World Test Championship Final, Wasim Jaffer spoke about the challenges the batters face on English pitches. According to him, the batters need to be disciplined enough to leave the deliveries on the fifth stump while playing in England.

“You need to know where your off stump is. You need to have the mental discipline to keep leaving balls on fifth and sixth stumps and make the bowlers bowl in your areas,” said Jaffer.

#WTCFinal #ENGvIND.@WasimJaffer14 and Dilip Vengsarkar on how Virat Kohli and Co can cope with the challenges of batting in England.READ:https://t.co/EU9mJtvmhE

— The Field (@thefield_in) June 17, 2021

Wasim Jaffer then gave the example of Virat Kohli's performance in the 2018 Test series against England and continued:

“Virat kept on leaving the ball. Anderson bowled an extended spell, and somebody like Virat who is known to dominate bowling and likes to cover-drive, even he brought the discipline to keep his ego aside. That is necessary to play in England: keeping your ego aside."

Virat Kohli's men will play six Test matches in England this year. After the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand in Southampton, India will face England in a five-match Test series.

Virat Kohli will hold the key to India's success in the upcoming six Test matches

Virat Kohli scored 593 runs in five Tests against England during the 2018 English summer

Virat Kohli was not so successful in his first Test series in England seven years ago. The right-handed batsman scored only 134 runs in ten innings, with his highest score being 39.

However, Kohli turned things around drastically in his next Test series in the United Kingdom in 2018. Leading the team from the front, Virat amassed 593 runs in five Tests at a superb batting average of 59.30.

As pointed out by Wasim Jaffer, Virat made a few changes to his batting technique that helped him achieve success in the UK. It will be interesting to see if the 32-year-old can perform in the same way this year.