"You don't massively miss someone that averages 33" - Former captain's brutal remark on Virat Kohli ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Former England captain Michael Vaughan opined that Team India will not miss Virat Kohli's presence as a batter during the five-match Test series against Ben Stokes and co. The ace batter announced his retirement from the longest format ahead of the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, ending his career with 123 appearances to his name.

Despite a horrid 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series campaign, Kohli was backed to feature in the England tour, and make a significant contribution. His experience as touted to be a massive factor during the transition phase, where Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma had already announced their retirements.

However, Kohli proceeded to follow their suit, choosing to end his career in whites, forcing Team India to deploy a relatively inexperienced squad for the away series. l

Michael Vaughan remarked that Team India would sorely miss the aggression that Kohli brought on the field, but not his input as a batter.

"Kohli is a legend and a culture creator around this Indian team, and what he brought as a captain to the team is still there in terms of the energy and the drive and the aggression. But he only averaged 33 here in the UK. You don’t massively miss someone that averages 33, but you miss someone that brings so much to the dressing room," Vaughan told Fox Cricket.

“These players that are going to come in and play for India, they’re seriously good players. Maybe this new generation has been waiting. Maybe they’ve been waiting for this moment. Don’t be surprised that they play really well," he added.

The former India captain toured England thrice in his Test career, playing 17 Tests and scoring 1096 runs at an average of 33.21. He scored only 134 runs in his first tour in 2014, before responding with a memorable campaign in 2018.

Team India take on England in the series opener at Headingley, Leeds on Friday, June 20.

“I think what India will miss will be his fighting spirit out in the game" - England skipper Ben Stokes on Virat Kohli's Test retirement

England captain Ben Stokes had also remarked that India would miss Kohli's energy on the field. The ace batter had been part of some of the Men in Blue's most iconic wins on English soil, including a couple in the 2021 tour, one of his final assignments as captain.

“I think what India will miss will be his fighting spirit out in the game, his competitiveness, desire to win. He has made number 18 his, hasn’t he? It’ll be a bit weird not seeing number 18 on the back of anyone… of any Indian shirt, but he has been class for them for a long period of time," Ben Stokes had said ahead of the series in a video released by England cricket (via Indian Express).

Newly appointed Test captain Shubman Gill has taken over the ace batter's No.4 spot in the batting order. The restructured batting order leaves India in the hunt for a new No.3 and a No.6, positions that have not been locked in so far.