Cricket Coach Rathour Discusses How Kohli Can Tighten Up His Game Plan After Centurion's Defeat

Virat Kohli was dismissed for India in a similar manner during the first Test against South Africa in Centurion, chasing a wide ball outside the off stump. Cricket coach Vikram Rathour, however, backed Kohli to continue to play his aggressive shots but advised him to tighten his game-plan so that he avoids making mistakes.

Kohli’s century drought continued as he chased an absolute wide ball from Lungi Ngidi, who played 94 deliveries in the first innings. Kohli scored only 18 runs in the second innings, as he chased down another wide ball from left-armer Marco Jansen to walk back to the pavilion. Rathour believes Kohli’s strengths are the cover drive and off drive and believes he should keep playing these shots. When Sachin Tendulkar played against Australia in 2004, where he scored 241, he didn’t play a single cover drive. Rathour, however, does not want Kohli to follow Sachin’s example. There is constant discussion about when to play a certain shot, but if you don’t, you will never get out of playing that shot. As a result, no runs will be scored. “These are shots Kohli uses to score runs; this is his scoring shot. He needs to play this shot and I think that is always the case that your greatest strength becomes your greatest weakness,” Rathour stated in a recent interview.

“Before making a shot one should analyze the situation. If we can tighten up our game plan a little more, we can play better. So that’s the shot Kohli plays well, and he needs to keep doing that shot, but he needs to pick better balls,” Rathour concluded.