India head coach Rahul Dravid believes former skipper and modern-day batting giant Virat Kohli is on the right track as far as regaining his best touch with the bat is concerned.
As the head of the team management, Dravid said he doesn’t lay heavy emphasis on the big scores that Kohli can collect for himself but rather on the contributions that he can make for the betterment of the team.
Once at the centre of attention through a major blip himself, the coach made a larger point on Kohli, stating the world outside can be paying too much attention to statistics and numbers due to the standards that the right-hander has set.
For Dravid, what is more, important is whether Kohli is rising to the occasion when the team needs him to deliver on the night or not.
“For us, it’s not really about looking at how many runs he makes. I know that especially with Virat people get a bit obsessed with his statistics and his numbers,”
Dravid told the press on the eve of India’s first Super 4 Asia Cup encounter versus Pakistan on September 4, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“For us, it’s about the contributions he can make in different phases in the game and what the contribution is. It doesn’t have to be in fifties or hundreds or a stat. Even small contributions mean a lot in T20 cricket, what is the role of a player and what the team needs. Virat is very keen in putting in big performances. Hopefully he can keep doing that in the tournament.”
A hands-on coach, Dravid may be wary of some of the issues plaguing Kohli’s game in this phase of his illustrious career. But he chose not to spill the beans about them in front of the media.
The head coach took heart from the fact that Kohli has managed to put up scores of 35 and 59 in the Asia Cup so far, facing Pakistan and Hong Kong, respectively, during the group stage in Dubai and thinks the player is gearing up nicely for the rest of the tournament.
“He is also coming back after a gap of almost a month. It’s nice to the see that he has come back fresh,”
said Dravid before adding that he is pleased for an aggressive personality like Kohli to have taken a month of breather prior to the Asia Cup and recharged his batteries ahead of the T20 World Cup.
In an interview with Star Sports, Kohli stressed on the critical nature of that break, stating he was “trying to fake my intensity” and was personally down with mental health issues. Kohli said he realised near the close of the break that in being determined to continue playing, he was beginning to lose a sense of passion and love for training. The veteran said it was a realisation that deeply disturbed him and encouraged him to step away from the scene for some time.
“Sometimes with Virat, he is just one of those guys who is always on. It’s not that earlier he was not. It’s nice, I’m glad he has had that opportunity to take a break, come back refreshed and relaxed.
He’s got a chance to be out in the middle, spend some time in the middle. Hopefully from here he can kick on have a really good tournament,”
Dravid remarked.
Apart from Pakistan, India – the Group A toppers – will take on Sri Lanka (Sep 6) and Afghanistan (Sep 8) during the Super 4s stage, vying for a place in the tournament final scheduled for September 11.
