Liam Plunkett might be able to rough Virat Kohli up, says Mark Butcher

What’s the story?

Former England opener Mark Butcher believes only pacer Liam Plunkett, with his extra pace, can trouble Indian captain Virat Kohli, who has been in scintillating form of late.

"The question that will be on the lips of all the England players and supporters right now is how to stop Virat Kohli? He's now made 17 ODI centuries in run chases equalling Sachin Tendulkar's record in less than half the amount of matches. The man at the moment is very much unstoppable but I suppose for England and Eoin Morgan - winning the toss and deciding to chase would be a very good start," Butcher told espncricinfo.com.

"Liam Plunkett, if available, might be the man to be thrown the ball to come in and rough up the Indian captain. But without that extreme pace you're looking for him to make a mistake or perhaps even get bored but at the moment he looks as though he's going to do anything but get bored," Butcher added.

In case you didn’t know...

In the first ODI in Pune, chasing England’s 350, India were tottering at 63/4 with the likes of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni back in the pavilion. Kohli, supported by Kedar Jadhav, played a sensational inning to score a 105-ball 122, taking India to the threshold of victory. The remaining runs were knocked off by the lower middle order with 11 balls to spare.

With the way he was batting, he did look unstoppable till he committed a mistake by miscuing a pull shot in 37^th over.

The heart of the matter

Former England cricketer Mark Butcher believes only Liam Plunkett can rough up Virat Kohli because of his extra pace and that if he is available England should play him in the next ODI.

Kohli has been in brilliant form of late and the England bowlers were absolutely clueless as to how to bowl to him in the first ODI, where he smashed a 105-ball 122. Butcher also says the Indian captain is presently unstoppable.

What’s next?

We have to wait and see if England do play Plunkett in Cuttack tomorrow. If they do, the Plunkett-Kohli battle will be an interesting one to witness. But who will have the last laugh? Only time will tell.

Sportskeeda’s Take

Butcher is quite right when he talks about playing Plunkett. The right arm fast bowler is pacy and can swing it both ways. Kohli always had problems against the away going delivery, and maybe Plunkett might get one to take the edge and settle in the gloves of the wicketkeeper.