Root not as good as Kohli but thoughtful bloke: Brearley

England's revered captain Mike Brearley feels that Joe Root is "not quite as good as Virat Kohli" but is still a "thoughtful bloke", who needs to rev up his conversion rate like his Indian counterpart.

"Root has a poorer conversion rate in comparison to Kohli. But I think Root is a fine batsman too and I like seeing him do well. He is different a brilliant batsman and quite intelligent. He is not quite as good as Kohli but is still a thoughtful bloke," Brearley told PTI today.

Brearley rated Kohli as the best batsman in world cricket and his success is largely due to his "ruthless streak".

Kohli scored 149 and 51 but India lost a closely contested first Test against England by 31 runs.

However Brearley was all praise for the Indian skipper, who today perched on top of ICC rankings for Test batsmen.

"I think Kohli is best in the world and anyone who averages 50-plus in all three formats must be a very, very fine player. He can play in every mode and so can Joe Root. But there is something ruthless about Kohli and he converts all those fifties into hundreds," Brearley told PTI today.

While every defeat hurts, Brearley feels that this loss will be a "learning experience" for Kohli.

"This Test (loss) will be a learning experience for Kohli. It will make things a lot easier (in terms of expectations from him and the Indian team). There is intensity about this Indian team, about their bowling attack, and I think some of that comes from Kohli too. On occasion, it can make people nervous I dare say, but on the whole, it animates them," he added.

Every player, who is a leader has his own style and Kohli is no different, feels Brearley.

"I like what I see in Kohli and quite like it. Everyone has their own style and he is very good in his own style. He is keen, and hawk-eyed. I think it is good for Test cricket, said Brearley, the author of widely acclaimed book 'The Art of Captaincy'.

Hailed as an astute captain of his generation, Brearley had a word of caution that Indian dressing room shouldn't be overawed by his persona.

"The one thing you wonder about Kohli is if he is going to become too dominant a figure in Indian cricket. He is shown great respect, as was shown to great Indian cricketers. He is like a deity, like others before him, the 3000th Indian deity. But it is becoming something greater for Kohli at the moment as well. Will that be good for him and Indian cricket in the longer run," Brearley questioned.

"I don't know whether it rubs off wrongly on some other players because for that you have to know the dressing room and how people react. It is possible that others are intimidated by Kohli's aggressive personality."