The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli reckons that the 2014 tour of England which was his worst series as a Test batsman, is still an important milestone in his Test career. Virat reckons that he would have been a pushover in the longest format if he hadn’t faced failure in the tour of England. India, under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, suffered a 3-1 defeat and Kohli experienced the lowest point of his career as he managed to amass just 134 runs in 10 innings as Kohli struggled against the moving ball.
During a recent chat with Mayank Agarwal for the BCCI, Kohli said his importance as a Test player went way during the England tour but it urged him to improve his game and be more fearless when encountering difficult situations. He explained, “2014 will be a milestone in my career. That tour of 2014 will always be a milestone in my career. I had to sit down and change the way I thought and approached the game.”
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He further added, “I started being more fearless, not in situations which sort of seemed easy, like in white-ball cricket, you invariably knew what the situation was. If that tour hadn’t happened, I would have continued probably the same way I was. I wouldn’t have improved. That tour really made me think how I wanted to approach my career, ‘Do I just want to be a pushover every time I played Test cricket?’. Basically I was too worried about thinking of the ball that might come in.”
Virat Kohli said he has conversations with Sachin Tendulkar and Ravi Shastri after the England Test in 2014 which helped him overcome his faults and achieve greater heights in Test cricket ever since. He went on to amassed 593 runs in 5 Tests and hit 2 centuries and 3 fifties as he topped the batting charts when India toured England in 2018.
The Indian skipper explained, “I came back, I spoke to Sachin paaji as well. I told him I am working on my hip position but then he made me realize the importance of a big stride against fast bowlers as well. So the moment I started doing that with my hip alignment, things started ironing out pretty nicely for me. I became more and more confident with following that pattern.”
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Recalling his conversation with Ravi Shastri, Virat said the India head coach called him to his room and gave him a crucial piece of advice. He said Ravi Shastri reminded him about the advice from 2014 ahead of the 2018 tour as well.
Virat said, “He (Shastri) called me and Shikhar to his room. He has such a keen understanding of the game. Little things that you do can make a huge difference, he knows that. He told me something, which I started practicing which is standing outside the crease. He explained the mindset behind it: ‘You should be in control of the space you’re playing. So many dismissals get taken out when you’re standing outside the crease.’ I started doing that in Australia and the results were unbelievable.”
He further elaborated, “Ravi bhai asked me one thing, he asked me if I was afraid of the short ball. I said no. Then he said ‘good, then stand outside the crease’. I said I am willing to get hit but not get out. Before the tour game in 2018, Ravi bhai saw me practicing and asked me again why I was not standing outside the crease. ‘Why have forgotten?’ “So I went back into the nets and did about 40 minutes of standing outside the crease.”
