Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri praised Indian batsman Virat Kohli. In an interaction with English broadcaster Michael Atherton, Shastri called Virat an “uncut diamond” and also spoke about his passion for Test cricket.
The duo of Shastri and Virat turned India into a Test powerhouse and witnessed immense success in the red-ball format both at home and away.
Ravi Shastri said (as quoted by News18): “There was a lot of individual brilliance, but I wanted to see the team brilliance. “I wanted to win and make Test cricket a priority and I identified an uncut diamond in Virat Kohli.”
In his conversation with Michael Atherton, Shastri focused on Virat’s willingness to play the Test format. Shastri said it was a free hand for all batsmen to play in the nets. He was the first player to join the Nets, which shows his dedication to the game.
Ravi Shastri praises Virat Kohli’s dedication to Test cricket
Ravi Shastri, India team manager in 2014, said: “While (MS) Dhoni was my captain, my eyes were on him (Kohli). I told him very early in my second month: ‘He’s going to take time but he looks, he observes, prepare (for the captaincy)’.
“Kohli was fully committed to Test cricket. He was passionate. He was prepared to make hard yards and play hard cricket, which suited my way of thinking. When you play against Australia or Pakistan you have to have a ‘no complaints’, ‘no excuses’ attitude.”
“We were on the same page and wanted a battery of fast bowlers. I was ready for a fight. I wanted to play hard. We did a free-for-all on the networks. You were allowed to bounce shit off anyone. He was the first man to accept it; He was quite prepared to look ugly on the networks and his mentality changed.”
While Virat Kohli’s dedication towards Test cricket is not hidden from his fans, the right-handed batsman missed the entire IND vs ENG five-match Test series. Kohli first missed the first two Test matches and then extended his layoff for three more games and will now be out of the entire Test series. Virat will miss the series due to personal reasons.
Virat Kohli is having a brilliant time in the current era of international cricket. Virat has been scoring runs in all three formats for the last one and a half years. Virat has almost dominated world cricket for almost ten years. However, the modern master failed to capture hundreds between September 2019 and 202.
During these three years, Virat Kohli was able to start but could not convert them into hundreds. But Kohli was able to break his hundred drought against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2022. The moment that many Indian fans craved the most was when Virat scored his 71st international century against the Afghan team.
Virat Kohli had a fantastic year in 2023 and scored 2048 runs in 35 games with eight centuries at an average of 66.06. Kohli scored the most international centuries in 2023 and also became the first batsman to reach 50 ODI tons. Kohli achieved the record during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Virat Kohli, who had an incredible year in 2023. With 1377 runs in 27 games by the end of 2023, Kohli was among the top scorers in the ODI format.
Virat Kohli is very important for the Indian cricket team in the current era of cricket. Kohli has currently scored 80 international centuries and is also one of the leading players to surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 international centuries.
The IND vs ENG test series is currently tied 1-1 and the Indian team is hoping to win the third test match and gain a lead in the series.