1983 World Cup winner Sunil Gavaskar has offered to help out-of-form India star Virat Kohli whose century-less streak has now extended to 967 days and 78 innings across formats in international cricket. On Sunday, Virat Kohli was once again dismissed for a low score of 17 as an off-stump delivery from Reece Topley took the outside edge of his bat and England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler did the rest to catch him behind the wickets.
Sunil Gavaskar, however, feels that if Virat Kohli spends just 20 minutes with him, he will be able to turn around the fortunes of the talismanic batter as he knows where the Delhi-born cricket star is faltering at the moment.
Virat Kohli has been falling for the off-side trap far too often. In his last two knocks in the ODIs against England at the Lord's and Old Trafford, he lost his wicket while chasing deliveries bowled wide on the off-stump.
Knowing that Virat Kohli isn't in good nick, bowlers, especially the pacers bowl balls a little wide outside his off-stump, and more often than not he tends to fall for such balls, and generally edges them behind the wicket either to the wicketkeeper or in the slips.
This is one area, Sunil Gavaskar thinks Virat Kohli can improve on with his inputs.
“If I had about 20 minutes with him, I would be able to tell him the things he might have to do. It might help him, I am not saying it will help him but it could, particularly with regards to that off-stump line,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.
“Having been an opening batter, having been troubled by that line, there are certain things that you try and do. If I get 20 minutes with him, I might be able to tell him,” Sunil Gavaskar added.
“It goes back to the fact that his first mistake turns out to be his last. Again, just because he is not amongst the runs, there is this anxiety to play at every delivery because that is what batters feel, they have got to score. You look to play at deliveries that you otherwise won't. But he has gotten out to good deliveries as well on this particular tour,” he explained.
“I think we just have to wait and see when he comes back, whether it helps or not helps. As I said, he is allowed a few failures, look at his record for India, 70 international hundreds. I mean, he has got runs in all formats of the game, in all conditions,” Sunil Gavaskar further said.
“Let's be patient, let's not rush things. We, somehow in India, hurry once a player reaches 32, 33, we all the time, look to push him out of the team when they have so much more to contribute. Let's be patient with Kohli as well. All these greats who have served Indian cricket are allowed a few failures,” Sunil Gavaskar summed up.
Sunil Gavaskar, however, isn't the first cricketer to offer help to Virat Kohli. Even his childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has opened his doors for the beleaguered India star.
“This academy is his own ground. Earlier, he did not have time but when he has got some time then he can spend some time with himself over here and practice. I would really love it if he comes here and he enjoys and feels comfortable in this place,” Rajkumar Sharma told news agency ANI referring to his academy in West Delhi where Virat Kohli learned most of his cricket under the watchful eyes of the former Ranji player.
“There is no issue with his form. The balls on which he got dismissed were great deliveries but yes if he comes to me which I think he will, then definitely we will work on the issues if there are any,” he concluded.
Earlier, ex-India batter Ajay Jadeja too had claimed that there was nothing wrong with Virat Kohli's batting technique.
“Virat Kohli is a great player. Most of his runs came (from that technique). Even in his best form, he's not the one who has ever cut the ball even when was scoring hundreds. If you look at him now and say, ‘has he changed anything?', I don't think he has. It's just that the scores aren't coming. I would probably worry that he's getting 20s and 30s, if he had gotten out in the first 10-12 balls, it's fine because any batsman can get out then,” Ajay Jadeja said on Sony Six.
“I know people believe that he should play on the backfoot. Obviously, sitting here on the television, everything looks easy. You get 2 yards extra, and you can see a different line. But he has always been like that. If he had changed anything, you could say, “maybe the backfoot play is not happening.” Show me any of his century where he plays the cut shot, and show me a shot when he has gone back and played to mid-on or mid-wicket,” Ajay Jadeja added.
After returning to international cricket at the start of July, Virat Kohli has failed to make more than 20 runs in his six knocks across all formats for India.
Virat Kohli's last century in international cricket came way back in the historic Pink-ball Test against Bangladesh at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2019.
He has been given a break from the upcoming tour of the West Indies where the Rohit Sharma-led side is scheduled to play three ODIs and five T20Is.
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