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AB de Villiers said Virat Kohli needs to avoid getting ‘too involved’ and focus on every ball as a unique event.
Virat Kohli (AP)
AB de Villiers, the great South African batter and Virat Kohli’s long-time teammate has recommended tips to the Indian to overcome his outside-off-stump weaknesses. de Villiers analyzed that Kohli got ‘too involved’ in the match scenarios and individual battles, even allowing the crowds to get under his skin, which hindered his focus and worsened his form.
Kohli scored 190 runs in five Tests in the series, with just one fifty-plus score — his unbeaten century in the second innings at the Perth Stadium. All eight of his dismissals came while poking at balls outside the off-stump against different lengths of balls from different pacers.
“It takes a lot of character, a lot of hunger, a lot of hours in the nets,” de Villiers said on his YouTube channel. “I think the thing is to reset your mind, every time. I think with Virat, he gets involved with the battle on the field. That’s one of his biggest strengths and it can also be a weakness. During this series, we saw him have individual battles with some of the players, the crowd got under his skin. Virat loves the fight, but when you’re not in the form of your life, it’s best to get rid of those things. As a batter, it is to reset every single and realize every ball is an event and just forget about the bowler.”
“I think sometimes Virat forgets about that because of his fighting spirit and the nature of the man wanting to be involved and show the whole of India he is there to fight for them. The skill, experience and greatness of the guy are not an issue. It’s about the refocus after every single ball. Maybe sometimes he gets too involved,” said De Villiers.
The former Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter also said that like every batter, he also had a specific weakness, adding that like him, Kohli can work to get better too.
“Of course, he can. Every single batter in the world has got some sort of a weakness. For me it was the straight ball hitting my pads. Even towards the back end of my career and in the form of my life, all the experience that I needed to go out and score runs. I remember a series against England. I started off well and scored runs in Durban, everything was brilliant. Then I ran into James Anderson and Stuart Broad with the new ball,” said De Villiers.
