‘Use His Feet’: Ravi Shastri’s School Of Thoughts On Out Of Form Virat Kohli

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has come up with a suggestion for struggling  Virat Kohli as he has been going through a rough patch in red-ball cricket. Kohli got out for the 18th time while facing spin since 2021 on Day 2 of the ongoing first Test against Bangladesh.

The former India skipper looked clueless and missed a straight delivery while trying to hit the ball towards the on side and was given lbw. But then, the ball tracking shows that Kohli edged the delivery onto his pads but he missed out on asking for a DRS. 

"He has [gotten out to spinners] especially in the last 2-3 years. But he has scored a lot of runs too. What you want to see him do more is use his feet. Get to the pitch of the ball, probably employ the sweep. You’ve got to move with the times, don’t be afraid to go over the top when the field is up. You could try and do things to unsettle the spinners rather than allowing him to keep bowling at you. It’s what he did a lot when he scored a lot of runs," said Shastri on commentary.

"Also some of the tracks that India have played on. It’s not been easy. Plus I know a few dismissals where like Shubman Gill in the first innings, he’s gotten caught down leg wide. Funny dismissals. He’ll be aware of it. That’s for sure. There is no batter who doesn’t remember. Obviously you find a method of finding a solution. Find out what works for you and stick with that," he added.

Kohli has taken part in 14 Test matches since 2021 and managed to collect 654 runs in 23 innings at an average of 29.72 with the help of one hundred and two half centuries. Virat’s numbers have gone down in Test format since 2021 as the former India skipper has scored only 1669 runs from 51 innings at an average of 32.72 and recorded eight fifties and two hundreds.