"He knew that his big brother was there to handle things" - Virat Kohli's childhood coach opens up on the batter's relationship with MS Dhoni
Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma recently opened up about how MS Dhoni supported his ward when he was in the middle of a tough period.
He mentioned that when Dhoni played under Kohli's captaincy, the latter knew that he had a big brother in the team who was always there to support him. Sharma suggested that Dhoni's presence allowed Kohli to field on the boundary line during the death overs.
Sharing details about the bond between Kohli and MS Dhoni, Sharma told India News Sports:
"Virat [Kohli] has always respected MS Dhoni and considers him a big brother. When Dhoni played under Virat, we saw Virat go at the long on during the death overs.
"He knew that his big brother was there to handle things. This allowed him to field in the deep, as you need to have good fielders in those positions towards the backend of the innings. I really appreciate Dhoni for supporting Virat at a time when others targeted him."
Incidentally, Kohli, during a recent appearance on "RCB Podcast Season 2", revealed that Dhoni was the only person apart from his family and childhood coach who reached out to him during his lean patch with the bat.
"Changed the fitness culture in Indian cricket" - Rajkumar Sharma on Virat Kohli's captaincy stint
Rajkumar Sharma further stated that Virat Kohli has been the flag bearer of the fitness culture in the national team. He disclosed that the batter helped his teammates understand how weight training can help them improve their game.
The 57-year-old pointed out that because of Kohli's emphasis on fitness, there weren't a lot of injury concerns during his tenure, elaborating:
"Virat Kohli's biggest achievement was that he changed the fitness culture in Indian cricket. The team was the fittest during his captaincy. He did it himself first and led from the front. Earlier, players didn't do weight training.
"Virat made them understand that it would be very helpful, given that they did it correctly. This is why there weren't many injuries during his tenure and the Indian team always remained No.1."
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Kohli is currently part of India's squad for the ongoing four-match home Test series against Australia. The right-handed batter has mustered 76 runs in three innings so far at an average of 25.33.
The two sides are set to lock horns in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, starting on Wednesday, March 1.