Former India pacer, Ashish Nehra has showered praise on Virat Kohli after his commendable batting efforts on the final day of the first Test against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Coming to bat at number four position, India skipper fought a lone battle on Day 5 as the hosts tried to defend the fort while chasing a monumental target of 420 runs. Virat, who scored just 11 runs in the first innings, came out with all guns blazing in the second one. He took the England bowlers to the cleaners and played a brilliant innings of 72 runs off 104 balls.
The 32-year-old missed out on a hundred as he was dismissed by English all-rounder, Ben Stokes, but he showed great character and fighting spirit to keep the visitors on their toes.
However, Kohli’s knock went in vain as India lost the series opener against Joe Root’s men by 227 runs.
Praising Virat for his efforts, Nehra said that Virat could even score 250 runs if India manage to win the toss.
“I would say when India win the toss, he will also score 250. This is the special thing about Virat. When Ashwin got out, he knew that they will lose the match but he did not play any airy-fairy shots. He takes pride in scoring his own runs,” the 41-year-old told Star Sports.
“Anyone would have got out to the ball he was dismissed, it kept extremely low,” Nehra further added.