Cox joined RCB for the first time this year as they defended their IPL title. Although he did not play a game, he struck up a relationship with legendary former India captain Kohli.

The Essex batter showed glimpses of his potential with scores of 27 and 25 at number seven on his Test debut in a match England lost.

Now, with Bethell absent because of a knee injury, Cox has been told he will bat at number three in at least the first two Tests of the three-match series against Pakistan and said he will once again draw on the advice from Kohli.

“I’ll keep it forever, I think,” said Cox. “He’s someone that I’ve looked up to and I’ve managed to spend what felt like four months with him in India. He’s someone that I’ll text if I’m ever feeling down or need a bit of help. He’s always at the end of the phone.”

Cox also linked the help from Kohli to his previous disappointment of missing out on a Test debut in New Zealand in 2024.

The former Kent man was poised to deputise for Jamie Smith, who was on paternity leave, only to suffer a broken thumb in the nets and miss the entire series.

The opportunity instead went to Bethell, who has gone on to establish himself in the England team across all three formats.

“I was three days away from playing my first Test and then got injured, which was just unlucky, a freak incident,” said Cox. “There were definitely thoughts of ‘I’m never going to play again’.

“I had that Test cap right there, then I couldn’t get it. It felt like that was the end, as bad as that sounds.

“I remember talking to Virat about it. He said: ‘There are billions of people who don’t even know who I am. The sun will come up in the morning – I don’t really care’.

“Obviously he cares when he goes out on to the field of play, because he’s crazy on the field. When he comes off the field, he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll meet.

“It’s about how I can be like that. How can I be really aggressive on the field, then when I come off everyone says ‘He’s a great bloke’?”

All-rounder Stokes announced his retirement during the third and deciding Test against New Zealand in June.

Since that match and series was lost, England have sacked Brendon McCullum as Test coach.

McCullum’s replacement Stephen Fleming will not be in post until the winter, so England are being led this week by interim coach Marcus Trescothick, while Joe Root begins his second stint as Test captain.

Cox will bat at three, with Surrey’s Dan Lawrence recalled to bat at number six and offer some off-spin. The hosts seem set to field four frontline pace bowlers, especially as rain is forecast in Leeds this week, with England’s training affected by indifferent weather on Monday.

Under Stokes and McCullum, England often named their team two days before a match started, but declined to on Monday partly because two of their frontline seamers – Atkinson and Josh Tongue – were travelling from London after playing in The Hundred final on Sunday.

If fit, Tongue and Atkinson could join Jofra Archer and Ollie Robinson in the pace quartet. Opener Ben Duckett joined the training session later than the other members of the squad after his journey from Lord’s.

England are looking to improve their poor recent record of two wins in 10 Tests against a Pakistan team that has not won a series in this country for 30 years.

The tourists are hoping captain Babar Azam and fellow batter Shan Masood are fit to play after hand and finger injuries respectively.

After a rollercoaster four years under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, could England revert to a more conservative style of play under Root?

Of all England’s Test captains since 2006, only teams led by Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen have lower run-rates and played fewer attacking shots.

In Root’s 65 Tests in charge, England’s run-rate has been 3.16, with the team playing an attacking shot 23% of the time. Under Stokes, England’s run-rate was 4.40 and they played an attacking shot 42% of the time.

But does that mean Root’s teams are more likely to score bigger since their risk is lower?

Quite the opposite in fact – the average number of runs scored for the loss of one wicket is 29 under Root and was 34 when Stokes was in charge. Under Strauss, when England rose to number one in the world rankings, England averaged 40 runs per wicket.

England lose a wicket, on average, every 54.9 balls under Root. That is better than the 46.3 balls it took to dislodge somebody under Stokes but far behind the 69.5 balls Strauss’ side soaked up.

There are obvious caveats with the data – for example, Dom Sibley, with a strike-rate of 34.48 played 21 Tests under Root.

Another quirk of the numbers is that Root actually had the best strike-rate of all batters during his time in charge – a strike-rate that swelled even higher under Stokes, showing how England’s greatest batter can go up and down the gears.

And might the lessons of the last four years influence Root’s captaincy second time around?

In his first interview after being named captain, Root said: “The last four years have been the most fun I’ve had in professional cricket and a big part of that was down to the way they [McCullum and Stokes] got me to see the game.

“I’ve taken a lot from that and I feel it will be a big part of how I want to approach things moving forward as a leader of this team.

“The thing that stands out the most for me is the shift in mindset that was created around how we want to play the game – trying to strip the fear away from things, make sure guys feel that they can really just allow their talent to come out as frequently as possible and in big moments in games.”

And, as others have pointed out, Root should not have to worry about a focus on the one-day team and leading a team during a global pandemic this time around.

British sailing duo Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris have established themselves as favorites for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics by winning gold at the 470 World Championship in Japan.

The pair claimed their first world title in Enoshima, bettering the bronze they won a year ago by holding off a fightback from defending champions and long-time rivals Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona of Spain.

“To win the worlds for the first time is really special. It’s extra special for it to have been here in Japan where it feels like the unofficial home of the 470,” said Harris.

“The racing was hard, conditions were tricky but at the end of the day we gave it our all and I couldn’t be prouder of how we’ve managed to finish this year.”

Wrigley and Harris will defend their world title next June at the Sailing World Championships in Gdynia, Poland.

That will also be the first opportunity to secure Great Britain a quota place in the 470 class at the 2028 Olympics.