“Virat Kohli, on a cricket field, is something that everybody wants to see”- Ben Stokes on Virat Kohli missing f India vs England series.

England captain Ben Stokes recently expressed his intention to respect Virat Kohli’s privacy and refrain from pondering over whether the absence of the star batter was advantageous to the visiting team in their ongoing Test series against India.

Ben Stokes said “I don’t mean to say anything disrespectful to the question. I think when it’s situations like these, when someone is missing a big series and a lot of cricket due to personal reasons, which we are not sure of, we shouldn’t label that as positive or negative to our team.”

Kohli initially opted out of just the first two Tests citing personal reasons, but the BCCI ultimately honored his decision to remain unavailable for the entire series.

“We should just let it be. It’s a broader loss for cricket. I wish Virat whatever he is going through all the best, I wish he comes through it. Virat Kohli, on a cricket field, is something that everybody wants to see,” added the England skipper.

The lack of experience in the Indian batting lineup became apparent in the first two Tests, where they struggled to dominate the opposition. With KL Rahul also sidelined for the third Test, Shubman Gill, who has played 22 Tests, emerges as the most seasoned batter in the Indian squad after Rohit Sharma.