Former Indian skipper and batting superstar, Virat Kohli is all set to play his 500th international match when he will be appearing in the second and last of the two-match Test series against West Indies. He will become the fourth Indian in the list of the most international appearances at the highest level of the game.
Meanwhile, the current batting coach of Team India, Vikram Rathour has come up with praises for Virat Kohli. Rathour reckoned that adaptability is one of the best qualities in Virat Kohli’s batting.
“As a batting coach, I believe that cricket is about adaptability. He is an aggressive player who likes to dominate definitely but a better player is one who can change his game. A player who can play according to the conditions and team requirements is a better player. This is his biggest quality. He can play different forms differently. He can change his game according to the conditions. He showed it on a wicket that was turning a lot. The way he defended against the left-arm spinner was a lesson for many youngsters,” said Rathour during a press conference ahead of the second Test against West Indies.
Although these comments from Vikram Rathour went on to put him on the receiving end of some harsh and trolling remarks from a section of Indian cricket fans. They recalled some of the flaws in Virat Kohli’s batting that have been reflected during the last couple of years. Fans took to the micro-blogging site Twitter to come up with contrasting reactions and opinions for both Vikram Rathour and Kohli.
Here’s how fans reacted:
Haan dekha Kitna adapt krta h ek off side ki ball se panga lena to choda nhi ja rha iss se
— Rohit Bector (@rohit_bector) July 16, 2023
The time has been come to change Indian coching staff after World Cup 😢 @cricketaakash @BCCI@cricket_broken @CricCrazyJohns pic.twitter.com/JREKp72bG4
— Ibrahimpinjarie🇮🇳 (@Ibrahimpinjarie) July 16, 2023
Ghanta bc... Root Smith all are scoring runs with good strike rate and Kohli has completely change his game.... Just staying and defending is not going to help him
— ColtKshatriya (@KshatriyaColt) July 16, 2023
Yes he is very adaptable in finding ways to get out in different conditions.
— Pichaa Paati (@Pichaa_paati) July 16, 2023
Indian pitches - bowled and give a surprised expression after
Sena pitches - nick the ball outside off stump on 5th stump line
And this clown coach is helping keep those standards very high 👏
I think his test cricket is done. No signs of improvement whatsoever, still chasing the ball bowled at 7th stump 8th stump and only plays on front foot, no back foot play at all. And spin bowling too he’s not looking comfortable 🤦🏼♂️
— Revanth Reddy (@urstrulyrev1) July 17, 2023
The end is near for him in test cricket.
If he has great adaptability why does he play balls outside fifth stump in English conditions
— Em! (@Insane__Emi) July 16, 2023
Any reasonable answer?
He is so overrated man
— Lazy Elegance🥹 (@Ekans123456) July 16, 2023
Great adaptability just like in CT17, WC19 or most recent WTC23. King 🤴
— Ƥ (@Pallette_) July 16, 2023
This guy should resign as batting Coach after WC. He should take responsibility for WTC final failure of Ind batsmen
— Sathish B (@Samuel5yi) July 17, 2023
One over of moeen needed and all over
— samrat ❁ (@45isEmotion) July 16, 2023
Apart from that, batting coach Rathour also spoke about the century drought for Virat Kohli in Test cricket for the last few years.
“Virat’s good form continued for many years. He scored runs consistently for 7 to 8 years. The cricket logic says that the lean phase was about to come. When he lost momentum, it went on for some time. Out of five years, he didn’t score a hundred approximately three of them went in Covid. The games took place in breakages or with restrictions. There is not much to look at because he is batting well. The way he is playing he will score a century,” said Rathour.