New Delhi, December 5 (IANS). Former India head coach Ravi Shastri praised Virat Kohli, saying he took his time and played Australia’s bowlers at their own pace and scored an unbeaten century, which was one of the main pillars of the visitors’ 295-run win in Perth .
At the Perth Stadium, Kohli faced a tired Australian bowling line-up and scored his seventh Test century on Australian soil and joined Jack Hobbs with nine centuries to surpass Walter Hammond’s list of most centuries among touring players in the longer format. Equalized.
Kohli scored an unbeaten century off 143 balls, his 30th in Tests, which came after 18 months, and included eight fours and two sixes. Shastri said, “He impressed me the most. Otherwise, the batsman is out before he travels 10 yards from the stumps. Take your time. You are one of the best players in the world.”
“Let the opposition play at their own pace. And this is what he did in both the innings. In the first innings, he bowled a good ball which bounced. But I immediately liked how he adapted. He moved six inches back in the crease to deal with the bounce, to give him a little more time and basically his composure and the way he moved in the crease.
Shastri said in the ICC Review Show, “You knew within 10 minutes, I have watched his batting a lot, but within 10 minutes you knew that if this player had a little bit of trouble in the first 20-25 minutes, If he gets lucky, he can take advantage of it. So it was not surprising. Sometimes you figure it out very quickly. So that start gave me the confidence to believe in it.”
With a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, India will aim to build on the positivity they have taken from Perth in the upcoming pink-ball day-night Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval from Friday. Shastri advised Kohli to continue following his routine and not tamper with anything in his process when facing the pink ball in Adelaide.
“Do the same things. This is very important when you wait so long. You have to imagine exactly what you did. “Maybe you don’t play the same way, maybe the opposition doesn’t bowl to you the same way they did in the first half hour.”
“But it is very important to note down the basic things you did before going to the crease, taking your guard and what you were visualizing and thinking, and do the same again.”
He concluded, “Nothing else changes. It doesn’t matter whether it (the ball) is pink or red or white. But the process of thinking before going in, taking guard and imagining what you did should now be second nature. Do it. ,
–IANS
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