Former player wants England to sledge Kohli, advices to "play with his ego"

HYDERABAD: As a five-match Test series between India and England is about to begin here, former England player Monty Panesar has given an unconventional advice to the England team. Panesar said that psychological tactics can be employed to hinder Kohli’s run-scoring and for that the England bowler should sledge him. The matches in the series as part of the World Test Championship are crucial for both England and India. England, who are currently eighth in the table, cannot progress without defeating second-placed India in the series.

"Play with his ego and get psychologically stuck into him. They should also say things to him like, you guys are chokers when it comes to the final. They should sledge him on those lines because Stokes has won the ODI and T20 WC and Kohli has not and that is going to mentally pinch him," Panesar said.

Panesar also claimed that Kohli cannot hold his own against James Anderson's reverse swing. Anderson had dismissed Virat Kohli four times when he toured England in 2014. The former spinner said that he will repeat it this time too.

India will start the first Test match of the England series on Thursday. The match will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. The second match will be played in Visakhapatnam and the third match will be played in Rajkot. Ranchi and Dharamshala will be the venues for the final two Tests. In the Indian team led by Rohit Sharma, pacer Jasprit Bumrah is the vice-captain. Wicket keeper Dhruv Jural is the only newcomer in the team. India has announced the squad for the first two matches.