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Here’s how Virat Kohli is working with ex-India batting coach Sanjay Bangar to tackle his weakness against rising balls outside off-stump.
Virat Kohli (L) and Sanjay Bangar. (PC: X)
Virat Kohli has turned to a trusted aide in former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar to help sort out his weakness against rising length balls outside the off-stump. Kohli was captured practicing with Bangar, who was with the men’s team between 2014 and 2018, ahead of Delhi’s Ranji Trophy match against Railways, which starts on January 30.
According to PTI, Bangar has been working on a specific issue: good-length balls that rise steeply on the outside-off-stump line. The session captured by an X (formerly Twitter) user was from a facility outside Mumbai developed by Bangar.
It involved a portable cement slab (with attached wheels) placed at the back of length (mid-pitch between 8-10m length) to feed Kohli with back-of-length deliveries that take extra bounce of the slab. Bangar gave throwdowns from 16 yards to replicate quick balls from fast bowlers.
The report said the aim was to expand Kohli’s range of strokes square of the wicket and add square cuts and square drives to his arsenal. It’s not the first time Kohli has turned to Bangar, who has been credited for helping him achieve his best form in 2016-2018 and has also worked at Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
“When Kohli’s feedback was sought post-2019 World Cup, he had given a glowing certificate to Bangar, stating that as a batter, he had benefitted a lot from his technical inputs during all those years,” a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying by the news agency.
Kohli’s technical weakness outside the off-stump was exposed more than ever when Australian bowlers got him out in that area eight times in nine innings (he remained not-out in one) in that area with the new ball.
India don’t play Tests until June. So, although after the Ranji Trophy, swinging deliveries that make him play the cover-drive and entice the edge might not trouble him as much in white-ball cricket, these length balls that rise sharply are an area fast-bowlers can target against him, and have done before, even in ODIs.
It’s a simple tactic for pacers because even if Kohli doesn’t get out on such deliveries, he’s not a prolific cutter of the ball, which reduces the risk. Developing those shots can help him get more deliveries on the front-foot which is his strength, while also increasing his scoring range.
