"Virat Kohli Said, ‘I Want It To Be Dangerous, I Want To Bat On This Dangerous Wicket And I Want Raghu To Bowl At His Fastest'" - R Sridhar Shares An Interesting Story
Published - 01 Feb 2023, 04:51 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:15 AM
Former captain Virat Kohli proved with his leadership that India can win Test matches overseas as well. Virat has an aggressive nature on the field and is always ready to take on new and tough challenges. Former India coach R Sridhar shared an interesting anecdote about Kohli from the 2017-18 South African tour, which demonstrates his strong mentality.
The 34-year-old dominated the 2018 calendar year with the bat as well as with his leadership. He batted well on challenging surfaces in South Africa and England and scored centuries. Virat became the first player in history to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year for 2018 and the ICC Test and ODI Player of the Year awards in the same year. He was also named the captain of the ICC’s Test and ODI teams.
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In the book ‘Coaching Beyond – My Days with the Indian Cricket Team’, Sridhar revealed that the visitors were provided with a county ground for practice and most of the players were spotted batting on the centre wicket as the adjacent pitch was left unused due to the dangerous nature of the pitch.
Virat Kohli quickly padded up and decided to bat on unused tracks. He asked the throwdown specialists to bowl at him at full speed, demonstrating his attitude towards taking on new challenges.
“Before that England series, we were in South Africa in January 2018 preparing for a Test series. They had given us a county ground for practice. The pitches were horrible. There was one centre wicket on which we were practicing, but the side wickets at Western Province in Cape Town were far from ideal,” Sridhar said.
“Virat saw that nobody was batting on the wicket because it could be a bit dangerous. He quickly padded up, called Sanjay, Raghu and myself and said he wanted to bat. We tried to dissuade him, but he was adamant he wanted to bat on the surface,” he added.
“‘I want it to be dangerous, I want to bat on this dangerous wicket and I want Raghu to bowl at his fastest.’ That is what he did. He did that every time. He put himself under severe distress in difficult conditions and ensured he overcame it. So he was honing his skill, he was also sharpening himself mentally,” he concluded.
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