"It is a good thing that he is spending time with Rahul Dravid" - Rajkumar Sharma on Virat Kohli working with the Indian head coach in the nets
Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma believes his pupil will gain a lot by spending time with Rahul Dravid in the nets.
Team India will face England in the rescheduled final Test of the five-match series in Birmingham from July 1. Kohli, who skippered the Indian team in the first four matches, will be hoping to make a substantial contribution to help the visitors register a series win.
During an interaction on India News, Rajkumar Sharma was asked about Virat Kohli spending a long time with Dravid in the nets. He responded:
"Virat is working a lot on his basics, putting the hard yards on his batting for a long time. It is a good thing that he is spending time with Rahul Dravid because he was one of the greatest batters of his time."
The former first-class cricketer pointed out that the Indian head coach can iron out any minute issues that might be creeping into Kohli's game. Sharma explained:
"The sort of technique he (Dravid) had, it was fantastic and he had a fantastic temperament as well. It is not that Virat Kohli is making a lot of mistakes in his basics but it is required at times that if you are making a small mistake and if you have a coach like Rahul there, he can guide you about how you can improve."
Dravid enjoyed great success in Test matches played in England. The Indian batting great amassed 1376 runs at an exceptional average of 68.80 in the 13 Tests he played on English soil.
"He has been working for a long time to regain his batting style" - Rajkumar Sharma on Virat Kohli
Rajkumar Sharma added that Kohli has been working to regain his lost touch for a considerable while. He observed:
"Virat has been practicing like that only. He has done that (spending time with Dravid) today but he has been working for a long time to regain his batting style and get back into the habit of scoring centuries."
The Dronacharya Award-winning coach reiterated that working with Dravid will help Kohli's cause. Sharma said:
"The way Rahul used to bat in swinging conditions, he got the name 'Wall' because he used to bat very well in conditions other batters used to struggle. So it is a good thing that he is sharing his thoughts with Virat and Virat is learning from him. I have confidence that Virat will definitely gain from this."
Virat Kohli bounced back brilliantly after a dismal 2014 tour of England by amassing 593 runs at an average of 59.30 in India's 2018 trip to the same country. However, he did not have a great time in the first four Tests last year and will hope to be back to his best this time around.