"Chill a bit"- Sunil Gavaskar's open letter to Virat Kohli ahead of T20 World Cup final
Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar has given golden advice to Virat Kohli before the T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa. The match will be played at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. Kohli is having a horror time in the tournament as a batter so far. He has scored just 75 runs across 7 innings at an average of 10.71.
While trying to be aggressive, Kohli has looked to attack the opposition's bowling attacks right from the first ball. But his selfless approach hasn't resulted in positive results so far. On the other hand, his opening partner Rohit Sharma has successfully targeted the opening bowlers and put them under pressure.
With the big final coming up, Kohli will be expected to perform on the big stage against a high-quality bowling attack, which involves Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Keshav Maharaj, and Tabraiz Shamsi.
Sunil Gavaskar's golden advice to Virat Kohli
Before the final, Sunil Gavaskar advised Kohli to play with the same body balance while playing his shots instead of smashing the ball hard, which resulted in him losing his body balance.
"It's a final and it will be played on a better batting surface. Like I keep saying, what Kohli has to do is just play the shots that he plays with the same body balance. When he is looking to power the ball away, then he is losing his body balance and he misses the ball," Gavaskar stated.
"So, all that needs to do is, that six he hit (off Reece Topley). It was brilliant balance and he just flicked the ball with the bottom hand. That's all he has to do," the former Indian captain said while mentioning the six that Kohli hit off Reece Topley before getting dismissed in the semi-final against England.
'Chill a bit and play' - Sunil Gavaskar to Virat Kohli
Gavaskar also advised Kohli to relax and not move around a lot in the crease when he is batting. In the previous games, Kohli has tried to play the shots forcefully, which has often resulted in the fall of his wicket.
"When he starts to move around, the head shakes as well. And therefore, it is not helping him. This is something you see in slow-mo as well. All that he needs to do is chill a bit and play that big hand and will give India the big score," Gavaskar added.
Virat Kohli will be an important player for India in the T20 World Cup 2024 final. India will hope for its talismanic batter to score big in a game they want him to score desperately. Kohli is someone who likes to score when the pressure is on and there will be no better occasion for him to return back to form.
Meanwhile, both India and South Africa are the only two unbeaten teams in the tournament so far. Both have been excellent and even topped their respective groups in the group stage and the Super 8.
