The Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has revealed that the Indian test captain Virat Kohli is in good spirits despite his lack of runs in recent times and the way he is involved with his training and the kind of effort he is putting into the practise sessions, he will hit the purple patch soon.
Rahul Dravid has backed Kohli for a “run of big runs” after watching him bat in the practice sessions. There hasn’t been much of a gap between the Boxing Day Test and the New Year test and it was expected that the Indian players might opt for a bit of a rest in between the two games, but it hasn’t been the case. Most of the Indian batsmen, including captain Kohli himself, was back in the practice session the very next day after the Boxing Day game.
Kohli has been a bit under the pump after his comments on the change of white ball captaincy, and BCCI doesn’t seem to be too happy with him at the moment. The fact that he has not been amongst the runs has only piled the pressure further on him. Kohli has also not been asked to address the pre-match press conferences after he contradicted the statement of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly before departing to South Africa.
Rahul Dravid (in Press) said "The big hundreds or runs from Virat Kohli will come soon, he is really involved and practising so hard".
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 2, 2022
No effects on team’s morale because of outside noise: Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid said that both Kohli’s and the team’s morale remain unaffected by whatever is happening outside, and Kohli himself has played a key role in it. He has performed his leadership duties perfectly in terms of keeping the team together and leading them by example with his work ethic.
Dravid also revealed that there has been no specific reason to keep Kohli away from the press and the only reason he has not been sent to address the press since his arrival on the tour is that BCCI wants him to address the press ahead of his 100th test match, which he will play in Cape Town. Kohli has played 98 test matches so far and the one at Wanderers will be his 99th game.
There were a lot of speculations about how long BCCI will keep Kohli away from the press, but with Dravid clarifying that the Indian captain will be back to talk to the media before the Cape Town Test, the speculations will probably stop for a bit now. However, Kohli is likely to be asked questions related to his previous comments whenever he comes to talk to the media again.
Rahul Dravid (in Press) confirms Virat Kohli will attend the press conference ahead of his 100th Test match in his career.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 2, 2022
