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India v/s England: Kohli Vs Root - Who will be first among equals?

Just like how the previous series between India and New Zealand was a match-up between Kohli and Williamson, the current five-Test series is going to be one between Kohli and Root.

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There are many similarities between India captain Virat Kohli and England vice-captain Joe Root. Both are two of the world's premier batsmen along with New Zealand's Kane Williamson, South Africa's AB de Villiers. One may be tempted to include Australia's Steve Smith and David Warner to this list.

Just like how the previous series between India and New Zealand was a match-up between Kohli and Williamson, the current five-Test series is going to be one between Kohli and Root.

Both have played 48 Tests each with the Englishman averaging above 50 while the Indian is in the mid-40s. Both bat at the most crucial batting positions, Root at No. 3 and Kohli at No. 4. Both made their debut around the same time, Kohli in June 2011 at the age of 22 and Root in December 2012 shortly before turning 22.

Both are their team's key batsmen around whom the side's fortunes depend. Both play all the three formats with the same level of consistency. Root impressed straightaway on his Test debut in Nagpur, scoring 73 and catching the eye with his technique to play spin in a drawn game. Even in the recent Bangladesh series when the rest of his teammates found playing spin tough, Root scored 40 in a winning cause in Chittagong and 56 in a losing game in Dhaka.

There is no doubt that Root will be the key to England winning or losing along with captain Alastair Cook. His ability to use the feet against Ashwin and Co. to negate the turn will be a thing to look out for. He is unafraid to step out and disturb the spinner's plans while also use the sweep to good effect.

There was an interesting sight during England's nets on Monday when after playing his spinners Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari, Root had a long chat with the off-spinner Ali on the lengths to bowl and where the field positions would have to be.

Root is undoubtedly the heir apparent to Alastair Cook for Test captaincy.

Kohli, on the other hand, has taken over the reins from Mahendra Singh Dhoni and taken India to immense success. There are even talks that Kohli should be the captain for the limited-overs so that there is one captain across all formats.

Kohli is in prime form, scoring two Test double centuries in a gap of 12 weeks this year. The last Test that he played saw him score 211 in Indore against New Zealand to follow the 200 against the West Indies in Antigua, making the great Vivian Richards praise him to the skies.

Kohli may have 549 runs less than Root and score 7.72 runs per innings fewer than the Englishman but has more centuries than Root, 13 as against 10.

Root may have more fifties, 23, but Kohli's 12 only indicates that the conversion rate is much higher for the Indian than the Englishman.

It is a fact that Kohli was miserable when India toured England in 2014. Kohli totalled only 134 in 10 innings on that tour, falling repeatedly to catches in the slip cordon. It was a failure by his own admission.

"I just take it as a setback in my career, and not motivate myself in way that I have to prove people wrong or I have to do something special against a particularly opposition. For me I am playing cricket anywhere and any team in the world, those things will not make any difference to me," Kohli said here on Tuesday.

For Kohli, that failure was bound to happen then. It could have happened anywhere else. But the manner in which he came back amassing 692 runs, in this immediate next series in Australia, with four centuries (including two centuries in Adelaide) spoke immensely of his mental toughness and the ability to bounce back strong.

It was the series in which Kohli matched Australian Steve Smith's number of runs (769). It was even labelled as Kohli vs Smith series.

For Root, it is all about feeding off each other's success, learning from watching his contemporary batsman excel in different conditions.

"It's important to keep looking at the best players in the world and how they go about their business and if there is anything I can improve my game from the way the play and I will try and take that on board. There are many great players around the world and you try and emulate them and add to my game what they do," Root had told DNA earlier this year.

Both Kohli and Root are on their way to achieving greatness. They both have all the ingredients to have almost all the batting records. It is only good for the game to have such competition against each other, something that was seen in the 1980s when Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee and Imran Khan followed each other so closely and tried to outplay one another in their fight for the ultimate all-rounder's position.

The next six-and-a-half weeks will be a delight for the cricket aficionados. Kohli's classic cover-drive will be applauded as much as Root's straight drive.

Whether Root holds on to his higher batting average or if Kohli outscores him in terms of career Test runs, only time will tell.

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