IND vs ENG 2024: Virat Kohli’s absence gives a great opportunity to young players – Stuart Broad

Former England fast bowler Stuart Broad admitted Virat Kohli missing the entire Test series is a big shame but also feels the talisman’s absence gives a great opportunity to young players. Kohli missed the first two Test matches against England due to personal reasons and will continue to miss the remaining three games due to a family emergency.

Rajat Patidar had made his Test debut in the second Test match at Vizag but could not get a big score in both innings. With Shreyas Iyer been ruled out with a stiff back, KL Rahul is expected to get back into the playing XI. India had also added talented Sarfaraz Khan to the Test squad.

“It’s a shame for the series that he will be missing but India have won the last Test. Kohli is such a quality player, his passion, his fire, but obviously personal matters always take precedence. But it gives a great opportunity to young players also. So someone in the Indian batting line-up will stand up at some stage,” Stuart Broad told IANS.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has been a consistent performer in all three forms of the game. Kohli has amassed 8848 runs in 113 Test matches.

On the other hand, England won the opening Test match at Hyderabad by 28 runs as they stunned the hosts despite conceding a huge lead of 190 runs. Broad said Bazball has proved that it can work in any conditions.

​​”I love it. The series is one-all (1-1) at the moment, but I think ‘Bazball’ has proven that it can work in every country. I think Hyderabad’s performance is the most impressive performance of the England team. We won in Pakistan 3-0, we played well in New Zealand. So ‘Bazball’ is a mentality that is driving the game forward,” the former pacer said.

The third Test match between India and England will be played at Rajkot from 15th February onwards.