He has also had his say on the two skippers of this epic Test series, insisting that Joe Root needs to improve his conversion rate of fifties to hundreds if he is to be considered at the same level as Kohli.

Brearley, author of the popular book The Art of Captaincy, told PTI that Kohli’s “ruthless streak” is what sets him apart from other batsmen in world cricket.

Brearley also feels that batsman Cheteshwar Pujara should have featured at Edgbaston and should replace KL Rahul at first drop.

“I am not sure about India’s chopping and changing (in the batting line-up),” he said. “I would have gone with Pujara at No.3 rather than Rahul. Pujara is someone who averages 50-plus in Test cricket and has played county cricket in England this year.

“He is likely to play a steady innings, blunt James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and enable Kohli to come a bit later when it is not moving a lot.”

Despite it being the 100th England men’s Test, crowds were low on the first two days at Edgbaston. Yet, Brearley feels day-night cricket is a potential solution.

”Day-night Test cricket should be tried whenever possible,” he added. “You will get people watching it. I think we will have terrific crowds this summer because India have a good following and English supporters usually come as well.

“But in India, numbers for Test cricket are shocking. They are the number one side in Test cricket and nobody goes to watch. It is a disaster and it is the failure of the BCCI to not be able to grow Test cricket and take a chance with day-night Test cricket.”