Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra feels Virat Kohli’s potential unavailability for the rest of the three Tests against England doesn’t mean that India will lose the series as well. The five-match Test series is currently placed at 1-1, with Kohli missing both matches due to personal reasons.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “I won’t go that far. Let’s be honest, life doesn’t stop because of someone coming or going. Life must go on, the show must go on. We are feeling Kohli’s absence a lot, I will be very honest. Considering the bowling standards and the sort of pitch that was there in Vizag and when we got to bat for the first time in Hyderabad, Kohli would have scored at least one 150 in the two matches because he wouldn’t have stopped against this ordinary bowling, in which Rehan Ahmed gets bored.”

Chopra further added: “He said he would rather get hit for four boundaries. Kohli would have hit you for four boundaries and wouldn’t have also given you his wicket. Whether it’s Shoaib Bashir, Jack Leach or Tom Hartley, when Virat Kohli sees such a bowling attack, he says he won’t score 50-70 but 150-200. That is why he is different from others.”

However, Virat Kohli has scored 4144 runs which came at an excellent average of 60.05 in 50 Tests in India. He played a 186-run knock against Australia in his last home Test in Ahmedabad as well. Meanwhile, citing the example of the last away series in Australia, Aakash Chopra said that India have won Tests against formidable opponents even in Virat Kohli’s absence as well.

“You are definitely missing him but his absence doesn’t mean that you will lose the series if he isn’t there because you defeated Australia in Australia in his absence. India actually lost in the match he was there, that was the Adelaide Test match, but after that, we broke Gabba’s pride as well,” Aakash Chopra concluded.