‘LEARN FROM KOHLI, SHOW SOME GUTS’

NOTTINGHAM: England assistant coach Paul Farbrace has asked his top batsmen to take a cue from Indian skipper Virat Kohli and show guts and gumption in the third Test here.

After being bowled out for 161 in the first innings, hosts England now face an improbable 521-run target going into the final two days at Trent Bridge. “I’m a big believer in players learning from players, and I think ours will be watching the way Kohli lets the ball come, and almost takes third and fourth slip out of the game,” Farbrace said.

“You’re looking for the best players to learn from the best players, and try to adapt their game to suit - and I think there’s no better exponent of that at the moment than him.

“Having had such a poor performance yesterday, you would expect your batsmen to show some gumption and some guts and get stuck in tomorrow and show that they are the best players” he added. Kohli scored 103 on Monday to notch up his 23rd Test century. It was his second hundred of the series, following the 149 in the Edgbaston Test and Farbrace said the India skipper deserves the runs he has scored in England.

“You would be hard-pressed to argue against him (Kohli) being seen as the best player in the world at the moment. The way he’s developed, played through this series, has been absolutely fantastic. I like the way he plays the game it’s fantastic to see,” he said.

“He’s a high-quality player, and has shown he’s learned a lot on this tour alone. The way he’s tinkered, practised and obviously worked at his game fantastic and he thoroughly deserves the runs he’s scored. Our bowlers might argue that we’ve perhaps given him a few too many chances but the bloke has shown that he is high-quality.”