Virat Kohli Was Reeling From The 2014 England Tour - Ravi Shastri

Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri revealed that Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, was expectedly going through a torrid time after the disastrous tour of England in 2014 where he registered scores of 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0, 7, 6 and 20 in five Tests.

Kohli’s weakness against the moving ball and his tendency to fish for deliveries outside the off-stump was brutally exposed by English pacer, James Anderson. The way he recovered from that was quite remarkable and something that set the tone for the rest of his career.

“Virat was reeling from that tour of England because he hardly got runs. He was in a state of shock, the way things had turned out. But you could see there was still enough there to get him going. Once he was back on his feet, there would be no looking back,” Shastri said in an interview with Times of India.

He set the bar really high on the 2014 Australia tour – Ravi Shastri

Changing his technique and being ever more determined than before, Kohli changed his fortunes around in the 2014-15 Australia tour where he scored four centuries. It was also his first series as the captain in the longest format.

“And I think, it really came to the surface in Australia, when he finally bought into everything we discussed. He was absolutely ready to walk that talk – not just in the way he played his game but the way we wanted the team to play. He set the bar really high on that tour, got four centuries and a fifty,” Shastri added.

India’s domination in Tests began from that tour and they went on to secure No.1 in Tests soon after, laying claim to the ICC Test Mace five times in a row. They are currently back in the first spot, snatching back the top place from New Zealand following their 1-0 home win.

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