Virat Kohli is going through a rough time with the bat. He has been far from his own high standards, especially in the last 21 Test matches starting in calendar year 2019. He has touched the three-figure mark only twice, unlike the previous two years in 2017 and 2018, when he scored five runs. Each century apart from six half-centuries in these two years. In the year 2016, he had scored four centuries. When one looks at the other numbers, especially the collection of runs in three consecutive years – 1215 in 2016, 1059 in 2017 and a career-high 1322 runs in 2019 – he was in the form of his life and considered the best batsman. In this world. Clearly the coronavirus-19 pandemic and living in a restricted environment has affected most of the cricketers in the last two years.
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In a highly windy year in 2020, England’s Ben Stokes was the highest run-scorer with 641in seven Tests and 12 innings. Ajinkya Rahane was the highest of the year for India with 272 runs in four Tests, behind Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari with 116 runs in three Tests. This was the year when Kohli returned from Australia after playing the first Test in Adelaide for the birth of his first child, leaving the captaincy responsibility to Rahane.
This year, England captain Joe Root has been in fine form with six centuries in twelve Tests and 23 innings totaling 1455 runs. He is followed by Rohit Sharma of India. Kohli is fourth behind Sharma (906 runs in 11 Tests and 21 innings), Rishabh Pant (706 runs in 11 Tests and 19 innings) and Pujara (686 runs in 13 Tests and 24 innings).
Kohli has scored 483 runs in ten Tests and 17 innings. His average in 2020 was 19.53 and this year (another Test against South Africa played at Centurion), it is 28.41. The wise have noticed the drop in numbers and are trying to understand what could be the reason for their poor performances against Australia, England and New Zealand.
Anshuman Gaikwad, a player (40 Test matches), manager, coach, selector, says he is not at all surprised to see a top-class batsman going through a lean patch. “Virat has to do some self-discovery. He has to go back to basics. This (lean patch) has happened to many cricketers. Sunil Gavaskar, then Jimmy (Mohinder Amarnath) in 1974. He tried everything, defending and attacking, but never got the runs. The same thing is happening with Virat as well. This is a circle.
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“It’s just that you go overboard with your confidence etc., and you develop some habits that result in you getting nowhere. Virat is very impulsive; he’s not like Sunil or Jimmy. He wants to go. But he doesn’t know how to go. That’s where the picture of the batting coach comes in. Either Virat is trying to be defensive or aggressive. There is nothing in between. That’s Virat’s problem.
Gaikwad, who has played with some of the best Indian cricketers, said: “Virat is a great player, no question about it. He is a proven player. But I haven’t seen anything like it happening to him (Virat), Sunil, Vishi (Gundappa Vishwanath), Dilip (Vengsarkar), Jimmy (Mohinder Amarnath). I have never seen this happen with Sachin (Tendulkar), Rahul (Dravid), Sourav (Ganguly) and Laxman. There is something in Virat’s nature that is bothering him. All the techniques that worked for him earlier may not work now.
Suggesting that Virat needs to change his approach to batting, Gaikwad felt that the India captain need not be overly cautious. “He just has to look for singles and singles and two. But he wants to hit a boundary shot. The moment he sees something in his range, he goes for it. He doesn’t know where his off-stump is. Coming from the front foot, the shot goes towards cover, mid off and mid on, not point. There have been batting coaches, but India have struggled with their batting in the last few series. It is the bowling that has taken the brunt. What did the top and middle orders do? We didn’t have any video analysts to consult. Everything is there today.”
Gaikwad recalled an incident in his career when he and Sunil Gavaskar had to take the help of a renowned coach. “We had gone to meet coach Kamal Bhandarkar in Pune. We both were not getting runs and we solved our problem at Deccan Gymkhana. We got our basics right and we came back strong. See we – me and Sunil – went to Pune in the middle of a series to meet Coach Bhandarkar. We were there for two days. And he (Bhandarkar) put the hanging ball up. Then our legs straightened, our hands which were going away from the body became hard because we had to hit the ball not once or twice, but fifteen times without a break.
The former India Test opener does not agree with some who believe that Virat is at his peak. “I don’t think he is at his peak. I wouldn’t say that. He is fit and has good reflexes. This is a phase that happens in every cricketer’s career. In 1972, when I played for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy When I played, I was dismissed for zero five times. And in 1974 I played for India. Azharuddin had scored three centuries in his first three Tests. But me and Vishwa (Gundappa Viswanath) were the selectors, and we said that. He is a man that should be continued. Look Virat is a fit man, these guys are really fit. One can attribute his indifferent form to playing all formats, mainly Twenty20. Pitch in Twenty20 Different bowling lines, different fielding positions.
Gaikwad, who watched the last two days of the India-New Zealand Test at the Wankhede Stadium, said any batsman, including Kohli, has the option of going back to basics. has played. I don’t think he is doing that. All he has to do is look for singles, no pushing and hitting. He should play with soft hands and know where his off-stump is. My advice would be: leave everything that is outside the off stump. Drop the half volley outside the off stump. That’s what Sachin (Tendulkar) did in Australia. The Australian fast bowlers tried everything, but they didn’t touch them.
It is not only important to know where your off stump is; You should also check your balance to make sure you are not falling on the off side; This is the worst thing that can happen to a batsman. When you are in form everything is fine. You connect everything. Kohli has to do it all himself, by soul-searching. He is not on top of the hill. He has to get down to the basics. He should understand how he started, scored big. Look, Virat has class, a big innings, and he will be fine. Once Vijay Hazare asked me why am I getting out in my 30s? He said that this is the time when I have to work hard and score singles. These were his words. This is what he used to do to reach big scores.
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