Johannesburg [South Africa], January 5 (ANI): Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers had a word of advice for close friend and star India batter Virat Kohli, who had a horror tour of Australia and struggled with deliveries outside off-stump, most notably by pacer Scott Boland.
India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia after 10 years, succumbing to Aussies by six wickets in the final Test at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and losing the series 1-3.
During the series, Virat ended up scoring just 190 runs in nine innings and five innings at an average of 23.75, with an unbeaten 100* hit during the first Test at Perth. While his century at Optus Stadium sparked fresh hope and optimism of another Test peak, Virat’s bat failed to roar in upcoming matches, as he managed scores of 7, 11 (Adelaide), 3 (Brisbane), 36, 5 (Melbourne) and 17, 6 (Sydney).
Speaking in a video posted on X, De Villiers said that Virat needs to “reset his mind” and get rid of on-field battles with individual players while he continues to battle form.
“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 is 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 are not in the form of your life, it is 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,” the former cricketer said.
“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,” he added.
Virat has ended the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle with 751 runs in 14 matches and 25 innings at an average of 32.65, with two centuries and three fifties. His best score was 121.
The ongoing 2024-25 season of Tests has been miserable for Virat as he scored a shambolic 382 runs in 10 matches and 19 innings at an average of 22.87, with just a century and fifty each.
In 39 matches since the start of 2020, Virat has scored just 2,028 runs at an average of 30.72, with just three centuries and nine fifties to show for. His best score is 186. (ANI)
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