Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers offered a piece of advice to star Indian batter Virat Kohli to help him overcome his vulnerability against outside off-stump deliveries.
Kohli had a forgetful five-match Test series against Australia as the right-handed batter only managed to score 190 runs in nine innings despite scoring a drought-ending century in the opening fixture in Perth/
All of his eight dismissals in the series came while chasing deliveries outside the off-stump channel against different pacers.
Meanwhile, de Villiers believes that Kohli’s struggles are due to his over involvement in the match as he even let the crowd to ‘get under his skin’.
The former wicketkeeper batter then went on to advise Kohli to ‘refocus’ after every delivery he faces.
“It takes a lot of character, a lot of hunger, a lot of hours in the nets," de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
“I think the thing is to reset your mind, every time. I think with Virat, he gets involved with the battle on the field. That’s one of his biggest strengths and it can also be a weakness. During this series, we saw him have individual battles with some of the players, the crowd got under his skin. Virat loves the fight, but when you’re not in the form of your life, it’s best to get rid of those things. As a batter, it is to reset every single and realize every ball is an event and just forget about the bowler."
“I think sometimes Virat forgets about that because of his fighting spirit and the nature of the man wanting to be involved and show the whole of India he is there to fight for them. The skill, experience and greatness of the guy are not an issue. It’s about the refocus after every single ball. Maybe sometimes he gets too involved," said De Villiers.
- Virat Kohli