India will win Test series in England if Virat Kohli, other batsmen do well: Sourav Ganguly

London, July 25: Legendary India cricketer and captain Sourav Ganguly has a lot of hopes from current India skipper Virat Kohli and his men.

Ganguly, India's most successful overseas' captain till date, feels Kohli is a man on a mission to make Team India the best side in the world.

Ganguly spoke about Kohli and his lead from the front attitude as captain in a chat show 'Breakfast with Champions', which will be aired on July 26.

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"When Virat Kohli plays, wherever you are, you will come and watch that, because he is playing. That is his impact. When you look at him, you will get to know that this man has a mission of making his team the best," Ganguly said.

Ganguly, who is the president of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), has also backed the Yo-Yo test and believes that there are reasons behind it for cricket has changed over the years and has now become a fitness-oriented sport.

"There is fitness and Yo-Yo test. People criticize it but there is a reason behind these tests. You have to be mentally tough. Now, cricket is fitness oriented and sports has changed over the years. I have a lot of hopes on Virat Kohli and nation believes in him," he added.

India will be engaged in a tightly fought five-match Test series against England and the former India batsman feels the Indian batsmen will have to perform if they are to win the series in England.

"(It will depend) on the batsmen. You have to score 400 runs in Test cricket. If they get 400 runs in the first innings, they will win Test matches," Ganguly had said.

"They are a good team. If they bat well, they will do well in England. They can win the Test series. India has got a big chance of winning," he added.

The five-match Test series will begin from August 1 when the two teams will meet at Edgbaston. The upcoming series will also be a test for the English side as they have failed to win any of their last three series and won just one match.

India last toured England in 2014 under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and lost the series 3-1 after taking a 1-nil lead in the second Test at Lord's as the opening game ended in a draw.

Earlier, in an interview with India TV Ganguly had opined that Team India should consider opening the innings with Murali Vijay and KL Rahul.

"I would go with Murali Vijay and KL Rahul as openers in the Test series. Shikhar Dhawan is a good ODI player, and he was in decent touch during the ODI series as well. However, when he opens in Test cricket in overseas conditions, he doesn't have a good record, be it South Africa, England or Australia," Ganguly told IndiaTV.