Nasser Hussain Believes Kohli Is Responsible For Birmingham Defeat

India played god cricket in the first Test of the five-match Test series at Edgbaston, but however could not evade a 31-run defeat.

Cricket news: Hussain also questioned about the role of Ashwin as a spinner

India’s skipper Virat Kohli played some excellent knocks, scoring 149 in the first innings and 51 in the second innings, and was ably supported by the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishant Sharma, but failed to get over the finishing line.

At the end of the third day, India needed 84 runs while England needed 5 wickets for the win. But the very next day, India lost wickets at regular intervals and alarmingly etched towards the defeat.

Ben Stokes took the wicket of Virat Kohli and severely dented the hopes of India. Hardik Pandya made a valiant effort at the end but it all went in vain as he was the last man to fall.

The loss also saw India losing six Test matches in the same venue. In the post-match presentation, Kohli asked the top order batsmen to look at themselves in the mirror and learn from the lower order.

The top order batsmen in the likes of Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul failed in both the innings of the game. Kohli applauded the lower order batsmen’s resistance against the Brits.

However former English cricketer Nasser Hussain, who is now working as a commentator for Sky Sports, said that Kohli should take responsibility for the defeat. He even questioned the usage of Ravi Ashwin as a spinner in the game.

“Kohli was phenomenal in this game. He deserved to be on the winning side for the way he played with the tail. He singlehandedly brought India back into the Test match. I do think he should take some of the responsibility for the loss, though. England were 87-7 with Curran and Adil Rashid at the crease and for some reason, Ravichandran Ashwin went out of the game for an hour,” Hussain told Sky Sports.

“India lost control then – he needs to look back on his captaincy and say ‘when I’ve got a bloke who averages 19 against left-handers and a 20-year-old left-hander on strike, why did I take him off?’” the former English cricketer added.