Batting coach Vikram Rathour highlights Virat Kohli's work ethics
Indian cricket team's batting coach Vikram Rathour heaped praise on Virat Kohli for his indispensable work ethics. He believes the Indian skipper acclimatizes to any given situation pretty well, terming it his biggest strength. Speaking in a Facebook Live interaction with Sportskeeda, Rathour said Kohli's knack of running the extra mile, makes him a cut above the rest. Here is what Rathour said.
"For me, the best thing about him is his commitment. He wants to be the best player in the world. He puts in the hard yards, and he is the hardest working cricketer that I have seen. Adaptability is his biggest strength," said Rathour.
Rathour described how Kohli shifted gears in 2016, according to different formats. Notably, the year 2016 is often deemed as Kohli's greatest ever season in international cricket. He amassed a record 973 runs from 16 IPL games, which also included four blistering tons. Later that year, he slammed his maiden double hundred in Test cricket, when India toured West Indies.
Earlier that year, Kohli was illustrious in India's World T20 campaign, after having racked up 273 runs at an astronomical average of 136.50. His match-winning innings grabbed eyeballs right throughout the tournament. The 31-year-old finished the calendar year as the leading run-scorer across formats (2595 runs at 86.50). Following the WI tour, he hammered two more double tons against New Zealand and England respectively.
The Indian batting coach reiterated Kohli treats every format differently. "So that kind of change to bring into your batting because you are playing a different format, not many cricketers can do that. With Virat Kohli, I think he can play the way he wants to play," Rathour added. "He can play according to different situations and that I think is his biggest strength."
Kohli is undoubtedly the greatest batsman in modern day cricket. He is the only batsman in the world to average over 50 in all three formats, presently. However, his patchy form in the New Zealand tour made headlines recently. He could muster only 218 runs from 11 innings during the tour. Nevertheless, Kohli will be eager to shut the critics in the impeding season.
