Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour felt that captain Kohli should persist with the cover drive while opting for a more cautious approach while pulling the trigger.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s quest for the elusive 71st ton continued as he was dismissed after bright starts in both innings of the First Test against South Africa at Centurion. Apart from the dismissal in itself, the manner of the dismissal was the subject of concern.
Kohli was lured into playing the booming drive outside of the off-stump, resulting in an edge through to either the keeper or the slip cordons. This form of dismissal, fishing outside the off-stump to lose his wicket has been typical of the mercurial Indian captain of late, and this has been discussed to great lengths by pundits and fans alike.
A host of individuals had suggested that Kohli should adopt a similar approach to Sachin Tendulkar in 2004, where he played an innings of 241, without a single cover drive. However, Indian batting coach Rathour was against this idea and instead felt that he should pick and choose the appropriate delivery to play the expansive drives on the offside, to ensure expected results.
When asked about the sort of discussions he had with the captain regarding the fashion of his dismissals in recent times, he said:
“These are shots which brings him (Kohli) lots of runs and it’s his scoring shot. He needs to play that shot and I think it is always your strength that turns out to be your weakness as well,”.
He also said that while Sachin’s Sydney knock in 2004 was a fabulous achievement in itself, he believed that mere suppression of the stroke would not be a long-term solution.
Rathour also believed that restraint in playing a high-scoring shot, while ensuring that it does not lead to dismissals also plugs the opportunity to score runs. Instead, he felt that holding the shot back until the perfect delivery turns up was the better and more balanced approach.
“If you don’t play a certain shot, you will never get out playing that shot. You will never score runs as well. Now, when to play that shot, that’s the part there are constant discussions.
“Was it right all and right stage to play that shot? If we can tighten up our game-plans a little more, that will be better. So that’s the shot (Kohli) plays well and he needs to carry on playing that shot but he needs to pick better balls,”
remarked the coach.
When asked about the underperformance of Kohli’s peers, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane’s poor batting form, Rathour expressed confidence in the ability of the senior duo, and all but confirmed that their places in the side were not in danger. He insisted that both batsmen were giving it their all on the field, and that their experience was invaluable to the team.
“You need to be patient and as long as they are trying their best and giving their best, as coaching unit we are fine, how much time they get or are we getting impatient, not at this stage.”
Rathour added.
