In a new book, Bazball: The Inside Story of a Test Cricket Revolution written by Nick Hoult and Lawrence Booth, Alex Lees detailed a run-in with Virat Kohli during the 2022 Edgbaston Test.
Alex Lees played his sixth Test at Edgbaston in England’s match against India, which has been postponed to 2022. The series was in jeopardy as England were trailing 2-1 in the home series the year before the final. Leeds scored 56 of their 65 points in an opening 107 run run with Zak Crawley and were aiming for an England record 378 points. The pair reached the opening triple-digit stand in just 19.5 overs before England smashed a mammoth total in just 76.4 overs to level the series.
During the Test, there were many instances where Kohli tried to get attacked by opponents. The match against Leeds was one such example. However, Leeds were unfazed by Kohli’s on-field antics, saying the Indian batsman behaved like an “idiot”.
“He just continued to do what he could do from time to time. When he hit, he got under the skin of people on the field. He doesn’t care about people’s position in the game. On the pitch Now we’re all equal. I can’t stand it if someone tries to blackmail me. It was very simple. He’s a great player, but I thought he was just an idiot. ”
Kohli will be waiting for almost three years to score an international century after his T-shirt win in the Test against Bangladesh in November 2019 until the T20 match against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in September 2022. could not. Leeds obtained this information from the media and passed it on to Kohli, who in his second innings of the Edgbaston Test he scored 11 runs and his 20 runs.
“There was a lot of noise.” He was just a human, and he knew that was what was bothering him, and probably what upset him the most. After I spoke to him, he looked a little red mist, especially when we came out after tea. He’s a competitor. he wants to win. I’ll never understand the weight of a billion people on my shoulders, but it’s possible to stay competitive and not lose my nerve. ”
Leeds, however, regretted missing out on a century and not finishing the game for the team. He knew he had done it. My biggest regret was retiring at the age of 56. The ultimate answer was for him to reach 100 and win the match with an undefeated record, but I didn’t have a chance. ”
Kohli has never looked back since his comeback against Afghanistan. Since then, he has scored 2,119 runs in 44 matches, averaging 57.27 runs in the format. Seven centuries have passed in this period, a total of 78 centuries, and he is now behind the great 100-tonne Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli, who was in great form during the 2023 World Cup, has now scored 48 ODI hundreds and is approaching Tendulkar’s record of 49.
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