India’s veteran cricketer Virat Kohli is in bad form. The 36-year-old had a disappointing run in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he was constantly troubled by balls outside the off-stump.
Looking back on his lean run, former India cricketer Yograj Singh spoke about the role of head coach Gautam Gambhir. Yograj feels that Gambhir should step in and guide Kohli on his mistakes.
Virat Kohli has been bowled off-stump all eight times in this series. The problems continued to mount for him as the series wore on as his weakness constantly made him the target of some ruthless Australian bowling attack.
Also read: BCCI forces Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli to play ODI series against England
Gautam Gambhir’s role in Virat Kohli’s bad run
During a conversation with IANS news agency, Yograj Singh talked about the role of the head coach in such situations. He called for better people management skills from coaching for international players.
“The role of the coach becomes an important question when playing for India. When you are an exceptional player representing India, you may not need coaching in the traditional sense. What you really need is someone for man-management,” Yograj said.
“Sometimes a player’s mind gets blocked; they don’t score or they keep running. No matter how big a player is, he can’t be bigger than the game itself,” he added.
Yograj believes that Gautam Gambhir should guide Kohli to play straight or leave balls rather than going outside the off-stump. He advised Kohli to avoid such shots in bounce and seam conditions.
“Such players need someone to guide them, to say, ‘let’s go to the nets and work on it’. For example, Virat Kohli came out with his favorite shot – the right-hander,” Singh noted.
“This shot works on Indian pitches, in England and elsewhere. But on certain pitches where the ball bounces and carries more, someone should have told him, ‘Virat, don’t play this shot’. Just play it straight or leave it,” he added.
“Every player faces failure” – Yograj Singh
Speaking further on the difference between coaching and management, Yograj Singh feels that the mistakes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should be explained by the coaching staff.
“This shows the difference between coaching and management. Spotting and pointing out a technical mistake by a player is coaching. Someone has to recognize these technical problems and communicate them to the players,” Yograj said.
“But who will tell Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli? They even want someone to come and say what is wrong,” he said.
Yograj also feels that for the players to perform, the coaching staff needs to give them confidence. According to him, there will be times when a player is not in shape, but that is part of the game.
“I believe what is needed is the right management – one that recognizes when the player’s mind is blocked, when they feel down and says, ‘Don’t worry, we’re here for you. You will do it. because you are a great player.’ Every player faces failure, even the biggest, Yuvraj Singh’s father said.
Poor form of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Virat Kohli scored 190 runs in five Tests at an average of just 23.75 throughout the series. His entire dismissal was off stump. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma was also in a bad shape as he scored just 31 runs in three Tests at 6.20.
The poor form of these senior players has raised questions about their future in Test cricket. There have been calls from several former cricketers for them to retire, but both are likely to continue for now.
