Jermaine Blackwood reveals how Virat Kohli's suggestion helped him change his batting approach
West Indies batsman Jermaine Blackwood has revealed how a small conversation with Indian captain Virat Kohli helped him change his approach towards batting.
Jermaine Blackwood explained that while he has had a few chats with Kohli on social media, his small conversation with the star batsman during India's tour of West Indies in 2019 had a positive and lasting impact on him.
Ahead of West Indies’ Test series against Bangladesh, Cricbuzz quoted Blackwood as saying:
“I don’t really have a lot of conversations with international players. I talked to Virat Kohli a few times as well, on social media. The last time India toured the Caribbean, I had a chance to talk to him in Jamaica when I was there subbing. So, after the game, I just had a small conversation. I asked him about how all the time that I have a lot of half-centuries and one century. He just said, what will you do when you score a century, how many deliveries did you face? I said I faced 212 balls. He said that’s it, once you can bat some balls, you’re going to score runs."
Jermaine Blackwood further added in this regard:
“So, I took a big thing from that. After that conversation, I tell myself that once I can bat over 200 or 300 balls, the way I bat, I can score runs regardless of who I am playing against or where I am playing.”
Blackwood played two quality knocks in 2020, both of which came in tough overseas conditions. The right-handed batsman, who scored a fine 95 against England at Southampton, notched up an excellent century against New Zealand at Hamilton.
Andre Russell knows his cricket: Jermaine Blackwood
Jermaine Blackwood shares a close bond with fellow Jamaican Andre Russell. The 29-year-old further stated that despite playing just one Test, Russell knows his cricket and gave him valuable advice.
“Me and Russell did a lot of talking. We are very close. I need to improve in kicking on and getting more hundreds. We mostly talk about my shot selections. When I started playing for the West Indies, I was young and excited. My style of batting was to play a lot of shots and put the bowlers under pressure,” Blackwood said.
The Jamaican went on to add:
“What I learned was that you couldn’t make a hundred in an over or two. You have to spend hours at the crease. I did a lot of talking with Russell, and he gave me a lot of pointers on what I needed to do. Not because just T20s. He only played one Test match, but he is a guy who knows his cricket.”
West Indies will next play Bangladesh in a two-match Test series, with the first match starting on February 3 in Chittagong.