IND vs SA 2022: 3 things Virat Kohli can focus on while being rested
Former Indian captain Virat Kohli has been rested for the upcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa at home. The 33-year-old had a torrid IPL 2022 season by his standards, despite the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) finishing in third position.
It's not unknown to anyone anymore that the 71st international century has eluded Kohli for more than two years now. For a player who was in his purple patch for almost a decade, this seems to be an aberration that has lasted too long.
He was still getting off to a decent start in matches and didn't look woefully out of form. However, the IPL 2022 season saw a bit of a desperate Kohli, who wanted to middle absolutely everything. That led to his downfall and the Indian selectors felt it was perhaps the right time to rest him.
With South Africa naming a full-strength side, many felt Virat Kohli should have been a part of the Indian team as game-time could probably bring back his lost form. However, that wasn't the case.
Now that he has been rested, let's take a look at three things he can do to get the most out of this break:
#3 Switch off from cricket for a fresh perspective
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Many cricket experts have advised Virat Kohli to take a break from the game after the IPL so that he can rejuvenate himself and come back in a fresh state of mind. The 33-year-old has been quite vocal about how bio-bubble affects players mentally and how burnout can impact a player's mental health.
Spending quality time with his family and loved ones would be something that could help him get a better perspective of what he needs to do further to get back to his vintage best.
Switching off from the game is sometimes important for players as thoughts about the same can consume them mentally and start draining them even before they know it. So a break could certainly help Kohli understand his mind and body better.
#2 Focus on short and long-term goals
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In modern-day cricket, with the increasing number of international games and franchise T20 leagues, it has become quite normal to see some big players choose to opt out of a format to prolong their careers.
Virat Kohli has played in all three formats for India for almost a decade and has hardly got ample rest. Now that he is no more the captain of the team, he can sit back and reflect on what he can do to prolong his career and be more impactful for Team India.
Even on the IPL front, Kohli still hasn't won a trophy in 15 attempts. RCB have shown this season that they can still be among the top teams without Kohli contributing massively. It is time for him to reignite his desire and hunger to keep on raising the benchmark.
Virat Kohli needs to figure out whether playing just two out of the three formats for India will help him in the long run to contribute better and also remain fresh for an important series.
#1 Work on fine-tuning his skills and rectify flaws
Virat wanting to be on the front foot no matter what is not helping his cause. Mental toughness takes you far sure, but technical issues cannot be ignored completely. Crunch game.. front foot to a short of length bouncing ball cost him his wicket again.
Virat Kohli will play an important role when India face England in the one-off Test at Edgbaston, starting on July 1. But for that, he needs to work on some of his flaws that appear repetitive in both red-ball and wide-ball cricket.
Kohli has always been someone who likes to keep the scoreboard ticking and hardly ever goes into a shell. In his prime, Virat Kohli used to even leave balls with intent. That's something that has been missing from him over the past year as he is seen chasing deliveries outside off-stump.
Virat Kohli has also been coming on the front foot for almost every delivery in a bid to show intent. But this is when the balls that are a bit short of good length trouble him and he edges them behind. He also ends up playing across the straight line, especially to the spinners and either gets bowled or LBW.
These are some things that Virat Kohli can work on during the break. He has made it clear that his goal is to win the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup for India this year. But he also needs to look a bit ahead as to how he is going to remain an important cog in the Indian wheel.