London: "Virat Kohli ranks alongside the greats I played against, but for him to be equated with the greatest - Sachin Tendulkar - he will have to play longer than just a decade of international cricket," Andy Flower told The Telegraph on Tuesday evening.

A former captain of Zimbabwe and one-time team director of England's senior side, Andy is now the England and Wales Cricket Board's acting director of cricket. On a regular basis, he is associated with the England Lions (or England A).

"Greatness, as I see it, has to be judged over a period of time. Which is why I've said that Virat needs to play for longer than 10 years," Andy pointed out.

Andy was, of course, quick to add that "Joe Root wasn't far from Virat."

Clearly, Andy remains Zimbabwe's best batsman and, there was a phase, when it appeared he could do little or no wrong.

Asked to comment on the disappointing batting from both India and England in the first Test, at Edgbaston, Andy replied: "The other way of looking back is that conditions continuously tested the batsmen, almost from the first ball till the very last, when (Hardik) Pandya got out to Ben Stokes."

As Andy was rushing for a meeting with the Board brass, there was time to ask only one more question. How would the Lord's wicket behave? His answer: "To be honest, I didn't have a close enough look at the surface when I was coming across from the other side, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't a typical Lord's wicket. Those who are up to it, batsmen or bowlers, will get rewarded."

Owing to commitments, Andy won't be at Lord's for all five days of the second Test, beginning Thursday, but would "definitely be around on one day."

Having monitored rookie Oliver John Douglas Pope's progress, Andy will no doubt follow the 20-year-old's debut, at Lord's, with much interest.