IND vs ENG 2021: "I would advise Kohli, Rahane and Pujara not to look at their recent stats" - Zaheer Khan
Former India pacer Zaheer Khan has advised under-fire middle-order batsmen Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane not to look at their recent stats as they will not get confidence from them. He opined that the experienced trio should reminisce about their good times on the field with the bat and try to regain confidence from that.
Since the start of 2020, Virat Kohli has played nine Tests and scored 345 runs at an average of 23. In the same period, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have played 12 Test matches and scored 540 and 531 runs at an average of 27 and 25.28, respectively.
Only Ajinkya Rahane has managed to score a century among the trio in the said period.
On Cricbuzz Chatter at stumps on Day 2, Zaheer Khan was asked what advice he would give Virat Kohli, Pujara and Rahane after their string of failures in recent times. He replied:
"I would advise them not to look at their recent stats. There is no point in it because they would not gain confidence from it. They have to think about their good performances of the past. And what factors in their game worked for them during those good times that led them towards success."
Rather than concentrating on negative aspects, they should fixate their minds on positive things: Zaheer Khan
Zaheer Khan added that if the trio believe they need to work on any technical aspect, they can iron it out with the help of coaches in the practice sessions. He also stressed the importance of having a positive frame of mind at such turbulent times.
"If they feel there are any technical deficiencies in their batting, then they can take assistance from Ravi Shastri or batting coach and work on them in the net sessions. Everyone does it as it is a usual process. If we talk only about confidence, it is not like if you have performed in these conditions in the past, you can't do it again or better your previous performance. Rather than concentrating on negative aspects, they should fixate their minds on positive things. Because a batsman is always one knock away from being in good or bad form," added Zaheer Khan.