Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar believes the friction from the green has not gone away Virat Kohli’s away in the ongoing three-match ODI series against Australia. The talismanic batsman failed to open his account in both matches. However, Nayar believes that Kohli will be able to overcome this lean stretch with his perseverance and determination.
Nayar recalled how Kohli has bounced back strongly after setbacks in his international career. He talked about how Kohli had a disastrous outing with the bat in England in 2014 but overcame his demons in the same country four years later. Nayar has backed the 36-year-old for a good end to the series when he takes to the Sydney Cricket Ground for the third and final ODI on Saturday, October 25.
“You always say you need the green. He hasn’t had it yet. That doesn’t mean he can’t do it. There are two zeros, all he has to do is add the one on the side. It will take a lot of perseverance and determination from him, but those are stories,” Nayar said during an interaction on Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’.
“A Virat Kohli doesn’t become a Virat Kohli without overcoming failures. He has done that in the past. He has struggled in England. He has gone back and conquered the country. He has one more game to overcome his demons, but if there is anyone I would trust and bet on, it would be Virat,” Nayar explained.
That’s what most hitters will have trouble with: Nayar
Nayar opined that Kohli got a brilliant delivery from Xavier Bartlett in the second ODI in Adelaide. The former India all-rounder believes that most batsmen in the cricketing world would have struggled to cope with that performance.
“To be honest, whether I saw Virat get out or not, I just think that’s a great delivery. I think most batsmen in the world, who have studied his bowling and understand him, wouldn’t expect that delivery because even the way he released it, the seam position suggested that the ball was going to leave him,” Nayar said.
“Virat has always been someone who looks at the seam a lot. So he tries to take the ball off the hand and off the seam. If you just watch the slow motion, you see the ball and you feel that the ball is going to leave you. That’s why he has taken that position. The ball throws, hits the other side of the seam and pinches it again. Most batters will have difficulty with that,” he noted.
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