Team India head coach Rahul Dravid is not concerned over India’s star batter Virat Kohli’s form and while people on the outside may be “a bit obsessed with his statistics and numbers”, the people on the inside knows him very well that he can be an explosive batter any time.
“He played very well in the last match [against Hong Kong], and we are happy with his performance,” Dravid said in the pre-match presentation. “He is also coming back after a gap of almost a month. It’s nice to the see that he has come back fresh and that he is looking forward to playing every game. Not that he wasn’t looking forward to playing every game earlier.”
However, his words came as in a recent chat with Star Sports prior to the Asia Cup, Virat Kohli opened up on his mental health and he shared the reasons for his lack of runs. He said, “trying to fake intensity a bit” while playing.
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Rahul Dravid again added: “Sometimes with Virat, he is just one of those guys who is always on,” Dravid said. “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.”
However, Virat Kohli has scored 35 and 59* in two knocks so far. His innings against Pakistan gave a bit of the old vibe also. He didn’t seem rusty, but he wasn’t in full control too as well. Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid opined on how, for the team management, it was about looking at his performances through a prism now as well.
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“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. 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,” Rahul Dravid concluded.
