CHENNAI: The spread of coronavirus has halted all sporting activities in the country. All the cricketers are forced to stay indoors. Many are seeing this as an opportunity to rejuvenate as they have been playing nonstop throughout the year. Former cricketers see this an opportunity for Virat Kohli, who has not been in great form of late, to analyse and iron out flaws. They wish the India captain uses the time to study his videos from the tour of New Zealand and see how he was sorted out. Kohli scored just 218 runs in his last 11 innings and got only one half-century on the tour of New Zealand.
Former batsman VVS Laxman during the New Zealand tour said Kohli should have been more disciplined. He also spotted a flaw in his technique. While commentating, Laxman pointed out that Kohli was not bringing his bat down properly. “The problem for Kohli is not the lbw dismissal, but the way the bat was coming down. This was the way he was getting out in England (in 2014) against the moving ball, especially against James Anderson,” Laxman said while speaking on a sports channel. “In this (New Zealand) series, we have seen the bat coming down at an angle. That is why there is a gap between bat and ball.”
Former Indian spinner and selector Venkatapathy Raju believes Kohli can analyse his game and come back strongly. “Kohli is a top batsman who puts a premium on his wicket. Full credit to the New Zealand bowlers for sorting him out. They were spot on in their home conditions and rattled one of the best batsmen in the world.”
Reminded of Laxman’s observation, Raju felt lack of time could be a reason. “When you are out of form, things don’t go your way. Even if they wanted to make changes as per Laxman’s words, they may not have had the time, considering the packed schedule. Now that he has time, he can study where he went wrong and rectify it at the first given opportunity.”
Teams rely on video analysis to sort out problems. “Kohli can study what lengths they bowled to him, areas that troubled him. He can see if there was a pattern in the dismissals. He can also use the data to improve shot selection,’’ observed Raju.
Ace trainer Shankar Basu, who has been credited for making Kohli one of the fittest cricketers in the world, has a few suggestions. “Kohli has excellent work ethic and understands his body well. He can stay fit at home by doing weight training, dumbbell lifts. Metabolic conditioning with small things like skipping, push-ups, shuttles and Swiss ball routines,’’ said Basu.