Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has said that Virat Kohli’s biggest positive is he still desires to be the best in the world. He also believes that limited recent Test cricket won’t adversely impact Kohli in the Test series against Bangladesh as well. However, India will face Bangladesh in a two-match Test series, with the first game starting in Chennai on Thursday, September 19. Kohli is returning in the Test after missing the home Test series against England earlier this year as well.
During an interaction on JioCinema, Gambhir said, “The most important thing which I saw in him is that he still has the hunger to be the best in the world, and the way he trains, whether it be in the nets or the gym as well. He trains like how a professional athlete or one of the best in the world should train, and that is what is important.”
“For me, from Virat’s point of view, that hunger needs to be there, and I can see that hunger when we look forward to the next 10 Test matches. But more importantly, the way he has prepared himself for the Bangladesh series, I think it’s very, very important. Once he gets into that frame of mind, once he gets into that groove, we know what he can do, what he has done for so many years,” Gambhir further added.
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However, Virat Kohli has amassed 437 runs which came at an average of 54.62 in six Tests against Bangladesh. He has scored two centuries against them, including a 204-run knock in the 2017 Hyderabad Test as well. Gautam Gambhir also added that Virat Kohli would be looking forward to India’s tour of Australia later this year as well.
“Obviously, what better for him than having the Australia tour coming up because I am sure he loves playing in Australia. That’s for most of the guys as well. They want to try and still be the best, whether it’s Virat Kohli, (Ravichandran) Ashwin or (Ravindra) Jadeja. They still have that hunger, which is a great thing,” he said.
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“Someone like Virat playing 100 Test matches or Ashwin playing more than 100 Test matches, still want to be the best, still want to improve every day, and that is why I keep saying that Indian cricket has been very fortunate that they have got guys like these in the dressing room, and they are great role models for the next generation. When you wake up in the morning, you want to be the best every day, and that is something a lot of the next generation has to learn from these guys,” Gautam Gambhir concluded.
