Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is happy that Virat Kohli did not play county cricket ahead of India’s tour of England.

According to Ganguly, Kohli was panicky because of the miserable campaign he had on English soil last time when India played five Tests against the hosts in 2014.

The right-handed batsman amassed only 134 runs in 10 Test innings during that series. He had then sought help from Sachin Tendulkar. The Little Master monitored his transformation and Kohli hasn’t looked back since.

“Kohli is a fantastic player. He will do well this time. I am happy that he did not play county cricket before the England series. I think he was eager to play county (ahead of the series) because he was panicky after not having a good tour last time around. He is too good a player to miss out this time,” Ganguly reportedly said.

The India skipper is also happy to have missed out on his spell in county cricket due to a neck injury. He now feels better than what his county stint could have offered.

“Although not intended but this is the best thing to have happened. I would have gone there feeling 90 percent rather than 110 percent that I feel right now. I would rather be like this as I needed to be fresh for the tour. It’s a long tour,” Kohli said.