"Guys like Virat Kohli don't do much of that" - Brian Lara's brutal advice to modern-day cricketers amid ENG vs IND 2025 Tests

Former West Indian batter Brian Lara believes he would have followed the Virat Kohli method of playing conventional shots to succeed even in the modern era. The remark was a response to former England captain Michael Vaughan's question on Lara employing unorthodox shots to excel in this day and age.

The West Indian legend holds the record for the highest Test score and first-class score of 400* and 501*, respectively. Lara is also one of the few batters with over 10,000 runs in Tests and ODIs.

Yet, he retired from international cricket in 2007 just as the T20 format was starting to take over the sport. Lara never played a T20I for the West Indies.

Talking about how he would have achieved similar success in the current era on the Stick to Cricket podcast, Lara cited the example of Kohli, saying (via Indian Express):

"At the end of the day, I think I had enough shots to survive. And I look at guys like Virat Kohli, they don’t do much of that (reverse sweeps). So I think I would have been one of the players who would have, instead of playing a reverse sweep down to third man, would have hit them over extra cover."

He added:

"I have a little boy in Australia who wants to play and that’s all what he wants to do..smack the ball and do all the fancy stuff. First of all, I am happy in he period that I played in. Played a lot of Tests. Everybody would like to be in the T20s (now) with all the funds involved."

Kohli has been the prime example for achieving incredible success in the shortest format, while predominantly playing orthodox shots. The 36-year-old finished his T20I career with an outstanding average of 48.69 and a strike rate of 137.04 in 12 matches.

He is also the all-time leading run-scorer in IPL history with 8,661 runs at an average of 39.54 and a strike rate of 132.85 in 267 matches.

Virat Kohli has enjoyed incredible team success in T20s over the last two years

After years of toiling away with the bat and as captain, Virat Kohli finally achieved back-to-back team success in T20s over the last two years. The champion batter helped India win their second T20 World Cup title in the West Indies and the USA last year.

The right-hander top-scored in the grand finale against South Africa with a 59-ball 76 after a sub-par tournament otherwise.

He followed that up by helping the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) win their maiden IPL title this year. Kohli was the top scorer in the final against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) and also led the side with 657 runs at an average of almost 55 in the IPL 2025 season.