Virat will bite you where you don't want to be bitten: Dale Steyn backs Kohli ahead of England Tests

Team India must be mildly impressed by their batting performance in the just-concluded three-day practice game against Essex, ahead of the five-match Test series against England.

Shikhar Dhawan suffered a pair, while Cheteshwar Pujara failed to make a mark too. There were, however, a few classy half-centuries by the Indian batsmen at the County Ground in Chelmsford.

Among them was a 93-ball 68 by captain Virat Kohli. These runs will be precious for the talismanic right-hander as he heads into a series that's pretty much a final frontier for him.

Critics have argued that Kohli will suffer the same horrendous fate he did the last time the Indian cricket team played a Test series in England. Question marks still remain on the 29-year-old's ability to tackle the moving ball outside off stump.

Kohli, though, has got solid support from legendary fast-bowler Dale Steyn. The South African has stated that writing-off Kohli will be the 'biggest mistake' England make. The pacer reckons Kohli will be 'fine' during the much-anticipated Test series in England that starts on August 1 at Edgbaston.

"Virat will do fine. He is a determined player. When people write him off, that's the biggest mistake. When you write Virat off, he will come back and bite you where you don't want to be bitten. So he will be fine in England," Steyn was quoted as saying by India Today.

Kohli averages just 13.4 in Tests in England. The last time around, he struggled to get a hang of James Anderson and Stuart Broad's probing line outside off. But the Indian captain is a much-improved batsman now. He tonked the English bowlers when they toured India in 2016, and has done exceedingly well to establish himself as one of the best batters in red-ball cricket in the world. Steyn's words will surely add to Kohli's confidence.