Former Indian batsman Farokh Engineer reckons that Virat Kohli and his men will be put to a real test when they tour England next year. Under the leader of Virat, India has risen to the top of the world Test rankings.

However, one can’t ignore the fact that India won most of their recent Tests in sub-continent conditions. Engineer said the real worth of Kohli’s men would be tested far away from home.

According to the reports of AFP, during an interview at Lancashire’s Old Trafford headquarters on Tuesday, Engineer said, “The present Indian team are very good indeed. Virat Kohli is an excellent captain, MS Dhoni is looking fitter than ever, Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the great off-spinners, (Ravi) Jadeja, we’ve got a very good team, Murali Vijay, the opening batsman.”

He further added, “They have been scoring a lot of runs against Sri Lanka, but the true test will be when they come to England. Don’t get carried away by the performance against Sri Lanka, against Australia we are doing pretty well, but that’s in India again.”

Talking about the key thing to play in England, Farrokh said, “India’s real test comes when they go abroad, especially England. England is the true test for any cricketer and Indian cricketers are no exception. You need a real sound technique to play in England where the ball moves about a lot more, both in the air and off the pitch. Your technique is really stretched to the limit — it sorts the men out from the boys.”

Only three times in their history have India won Test series in England, most recently in 2007.