Former India great and current head coach Rahul Dravid has reckoned that ace India batter Virat Kohli has set an example for the other players in the team with his fitness and hard work.
Considered as one of the modern-day greats of the game, the former India skipper regained his form earlier this year after enduring an extended lean patch.
Notably, Kohli ended his century drought during the Asia Cup in the UAE with his maiden T20I ton against Afghanistan.
Later, the run-machine continued his golden form with the bat in the recently concluded T20 World Cup and ended up as the tournament’s leading-run getter. Most recently, he slammed his 44th ODI hundred in the third ODI against Bangladesh.
“He (Virat) knows when to be aggressive and when to control the game, it’s incredible to watch and a good sign for us if he can build up,” Dravid said in a video released by the BCCI on its website.
“Virat has an incredible template in 50-over cricket. His record speaks for itself. It’s phenomenal the number of games he’s played,” he added.
Dravid further expressed that the recent return to form has boosted Kohli’s confidence and he continues to train as hard as ever.
“He feels he’s back and is training as hard as I have ever seen him. For me, that has been a stand out, watching him train this past year, that never changes irrespective of whether he is doing well or not and that is a great lesson for a lot of the young players in the group,” added Dravid.
Dravid also felt that teams are now pushing for results as the race for the World Test Championship (WTC) final spots.
“Teams have already been more aggressive over the last bit; we have seen a lot more results. Teams are playing for results a lot more now, especially with the World Test Championship points at stake.”
Dravid believes teams must be able to adapt to every situation to succeed in Test cricket.
“I still think adaptability is going to be very important in Test cricket, the ability to play aggressively when you need to… or you can play aggressively with the kind of squad you have or the position you find yourself in the game… and then the opportunity to play a difficult period or day of Test cricket either with the bat or ball and knuckle down and play some hard cricket.
“The teams that have that adaptability or the ability to switch even in between a Test match are the ones that are going to be very successful,” he added.