"Virat Kohli will want to replicate what Joe Root is doing and that could start today" - Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra expects Virat Kohli to be inspired by Joe Root and play a match-defining knock on the fourth day of the Lord's Test.

Root scored an unbeaten 180 in England's first innings of the second Test against India. Kohli followed his golden duck in the Nottingham Test with a 42-run knock in the first innings of the ongoing Lord's Test but did not look his fluent self.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra hopes that Virat Kohli will take a leaf out of Root's book. He elaborated:

"Virat Kohli will want to replicate what Joe Root is doing and that could start today. I am expecting Virat Kohli to have a good day, play an aggressive innings, maybe a 60-70 kind of knock, not a hundred but an innings that should change the momentum of this game towards India."

The cricketer-turned-commentator wants Kohli to play an attacking knock and not be dictated by the opposition. Chopra observed:

"The situation when Kohli will come to bat, I feel he will be inspired that let me take the attack to the opposition, let me be very very aggressive and not reactive but proactive. I have great expectations from him."

Team India trails England by 27 runs going into the fourth day of the Lord's Test. They will hope for their captain to play a significant knock and help post a challenging target for the hosts in the fourth innings.

"Virat Kohli hasn't got a century in quite a while. Lord's inspires players. Great players get inspired by great grounds and great moments and it would not surprise me at all if Virat Kohli's waving his bat for three figures." - Michael Vaughan (In Cricbuzz)

— CricketMAN2 (@man4_cricket) August 11, 2021

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Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli taking inspiration from Joe Root

Aakash Chopra feels the fire will be ignited in Virat Kohli's belly

Aakash Chopra added that while Joe Root's terrific knock is great from England's point of view, it should also act as a booster shot for Virat Kohli. He said:

"Root has already taken the benchmark higher, he is playing in a fabulous manner among the Fab four. It is great from his and England's viewpoint but whenever there is competition, the other person inspires you at times."

The 43-year-old highlighted that there have been instances in the past where players have been motivated by their rivals' great performances. Chopra explained:

"There was a time when Imran Khan, Kapil Paaji, Richard Hadlee and Ian Botham used to play, no one used to say that there is a rivalry amongst them but it was there, everyone used to check each other's record and that just inspired you."

Virat Kohli has scored just 387 runs at an underwhelming average of 24.18 in the ten Tests he has played since the beginning of 2020. With the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane also not being in the best of form, the Indian captain will hope to rise to the occasion and play a substantial knock.

Since 2020,Least Test Batting avg as Top order(1-5) Batsman :-20.1: Campbell24.1: VIRAT KOHLI25.0: PUJARA27.9: RAHANE 29.3: Brathwaite [Min-15 ings]And thats a India's No 3,4,5 😶#ENGvIND

— STATS collector (@onlyforstats) August 13, 2021