Sydney [Australia], January 7 (ANI): Ravi Shastri has shared his views on the current stages of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s Test careers following their dip in form during India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy defeat to Australia.
Once the backbone of India’s batting lineup, Kohli endured a tough series in Australia, managing just 190 runs at an average of less than 24. This included an unbeaten century in the first Test in Perth, but he struggled to maintain consistency throughout the series.
Despite these challenges, Shastri believes the 36-year-old still has plenty to offer, though he acknowledged Kohli’s difficulties against spin on home soil and his technical issues outside off-stump in Australian conditions.
Speaking on The ICC Review, Shastri compared Kohli’s current struggles to those faced by former Australian captain Ricky Ponting during the later years of his career. Ponting averaged 39.48 over his final five years as a Test batter, significantly lower than his overall career average of 51.85.
“This now takes my mind back to [Sachin] Tendulkar, [and] to Brian Lara. When you evaluate their careers and see where Virat is, I think Virat still has it in him for the next couple of years to do precisely…..,” Shastri told The ICC Review, as quoted by the ICC.
“To get the youngsters coming through the ranks there. Help them out. Share knowledge. Be part of the dressing room. Contribute to the team,” he added.
“And if your form is still good and you’re enjoying it, stay there. Otherwise, it will be time to move on and your mind will tell you to do that,” he said.
“The same thing happened with Sachin. I think he had to play a similar role to Ricky. If you look at his last couple of years also, he himself would say he was not at his best. But he was playing well enough and wanted to contribute,” noted Shastri.
For Ravi Shastri, West Indies legend Brian Lara, who amassed 11,953 runs at an impressive average of 52.88, remains an example of a player who stayed true to his natural style until the very end of his career.
“The only guy I thought who just played the game where he saw the ball and smacked it was Brian [Lara],” he said, as quoted by ICC.
“I don’t think he ever thought of not getting out or surviving. He thought of smashing it. And that’s why probably scored that quickly and enjoyed himself. And when he had a run where he didn’t score, he just left the game,” he added.
Shastri believes that Virat Kohli can still contribute significantly to Indian cricket, not just as a player but also as a senior figure in the dressing room. He emphasized Kohli’s potential to mentor rising talents like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, and Nitish Reddy.
“So I think the contributing factor to this team is transition and the youngsters coming through the ranks. If you look at Jaiswal, he’s 23. You look at Shubham Gill is 22, 23 [25 years]. Nitish Reddy is 21,” he noted.
“There are a lot of players. Rishabh Pant, he is still very young. He is 25 or 26. [27 years],” he said.
“So there are a lot of guys there who can benefit from the experience of a player of Virat Kohli’s calibre,” he remarked.
Addressing the challenges faced by both Kohli and Rohit Sharma, India’s Test captain who struggled with an average of just 6.2 in the series, Shastri suggested that the duo should seize any opportunity to participate in red-ball domestic cricket. This, he believes, would help them regain form and confidence in the longest format of the game.
“If there’s a gap for them, I think they should go back and play some domestic cricket and see how it is,” he said, as quoted by ICC.
“Because when you play Test match cricket for that length of time, it’s important to play domestic cricket for two reasons: You’re abreast with the current generation (and) you can contribute to that younger generation with your experience,” Shastri said.
“And more importantly you get to play spin more than you will ever play. So if you see India as recorded, India on turning tracks is not the greatest. If you have quality spinners in the opposition, they can trouble you. And they have troubled India,” he said.
Ultimately, Shastri left the decision about their Test careers in their hands, stating that their future in the format would depend on their hunger and desire to continue playing at the highest level.
“They might have been lucky to get over a couple of series, but you saw how New Zealand exposed them before coming to Australia. So I would leave it on that,” Shastri stated, as quoted by ICC.
“And plus, it’s the hunger and desire. When you’re in your 30s, one is 36, the other is 38. They would know how hungry they are,” he said. (ANI)
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