England vs India: Virat Kohli will score this time; India favourites, feels Jaffer

Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer feels Indian skipper Virat Kohli will leave behind his forgetful memory of the 2014 series behind and score well in the upcoming five-Test series starting August 1.

Kohli ended up with a shocking average of 13.40 in that four-match series, managing just 134 runs in 10 innings. India lost the series 1-3.

In his column for Times of India, Jaffer recalled the 2007 series in England which India won 1-0 to register their first win in that country after 21 years. Jaffer was a member of that squad which was led by Rahul Dravid. He said the India team did well then by defeating the West Indies on their soil after 35 years before going to England. He also remembered that only Anil Kumble hit a hundred for India in that 11-year-old series.

Jaffer puts insistence on ‘smart cricket’

Forty-year-old Jaffer, who played his last Test in 2008 but still turns up regularly for Vidarbha in domestic cricket and slammed a 286 for them in Irani Cup in March, also vividly remembered the series-winning victory at Nottingham where he played a crucial role as an opening batsman.

According to Jaffer, weather plays an important role in Tests in England because of its unpredictability. However, the weather is on the warmer side this time which made Jaffer feel that swing would not be an issue in this series and that the spinner could play a bigger role. He said India would go into the series as favourites but they will have to play “smart cricket” to complete the job.

At the moment, the Indian cricket team is in Essex wherein they are currently playing a practice match against the latter. They will be traveling earlier than expected to Edgbaston in a day or two.

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