Published: Jun 06, 2016, 04:26 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 06, 2016, 05:28 PM (IST)
After 60 games of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016, playing against different bowlers and pitches, India’s Test skipper Virat Kohli managed to secure 973 runs at an average of 81.03 and a strike rate of 152.03. Does this sound freakishly insane for limited-overs cricket? In the tournament, hard hitters have contributed the maximum and with perfection. But Kohli’s consistency proves his caliber. In the previous editions of IPL, nobody has ever gone beyond an aggregate of 750. Kohli battered it at one go and so much so, he has been compared to Tennis great Novak Djokovic. Trent Woodhill, batting coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Ed Smith opine the same. ALSO READ: Suresh Raina says Virat Kohli provides strong batting lessons
What Woodhill believes is Kohli’s mind-boggling consistency is pretty simple, according to a report in ESPNcricinfo. “He has trained himself to repeat. What I mean by that is that before going out into the match, he is playing the same game. It’s not like he is trying to play a certain way and then can’t repeat that. When he wants to hit the ball to a certain area, he is not thinking how he is doing it technically. He is just repeating. He is seeing the opportunity and taking that opportunity,” he said further.
Apart from his repeated consistency a lot depends on physical fitness. Woodhill also said, “What I have found out about Virat, through [Shankar] Basu, our fitness coach, and through Virat, is that because of his complete determination to be the best, he is physically at the top of his game. There is no one more physically fit than Virat. There are people as good. Davey Warner, for example. But no one better. Virat is a complete player. He is not fighting anything that is not natural. The beauty of him and Davey is that they are not interested in what other people think of their mechanics. They are just looking to repeat what they do day in day out. That’s the first part of the journey. Every time you hit a cricket ball, it has to be with the mechanics you are able to repeat,” Woodhill added.
A better way to explain this logic is when Kohli played some shots that have been never seen before he can now hit sixes if he commits fully to an aerial shot, that he can run twos when the ball has only travelled as far as the 30-yard circle. Smith, on the hindsight, Kohli reminded him of Djokovic who shows total commitment to every aspect of his life. He said, “In terms of total commitment in every aspect of his life to excellence on the field, it reminded me of Djokovic. In terms of taking this total game to new heights. All those things about Virat manifested themselves very quickly, the way he approached preparation and training before the IPL.” ALSO READ: Virat Kohli opens up about his fear of being bankrupt
Woodhill feels cricket can be easily compared to other sports stars when he said, “The Messis, the Ronaldos, the Nadals, the Federers, the Lebron Jameses, they make sure they are at the top of their game to compete with so many good sportsmen. The day they don’t give 100% to their preparation, they give the opponent an opportunity. Kohli and Warner worked it out that if they have complete commitment to what they think they do best, it is really hard to have weakness.”
Smith definitely felt, Kohli knew his time was coming and ended saying, “I have been around a few great sportsmen in cricket and other sports. It is very inspiring and thrilling to see someone grab his moment. That’s what I think he has done. The recognition that he could do something special, the knowledge that everything is in place, the commitment to doing it, the conviction with which he approached this moment, is exceptional,” he said.
