With the entire team “switched on” after winning the opener in Centurion convincingly, it appears a good opportunity for the Rahul Dravid-Virat Kohli combination to lead India to their maiden Test series victory in South Africa.
But then, skipper Kohli’s struggle with the bat of late is a part of India’s issues with their batting currently, which they need to sort out. However, on the match eve, coach Dravid chose to speak of Kohli’s leadership skills more than his poor run of form with the bat.
Kohli has had to deal with much outside noise with chief selector Chetan Sharma’s recent comments contradicting the skipper’s take on his on quitting of T20I captaincy.
“There has been a lot of noise regarding other issues, a little bit outside of the group, even leading into this particular Test. But honestly, in terms of keeping the team morale high, it has not been very difficult because, to be honest, it has been led by the skipper himself,” Dravid said on Sunday.
“Virat has been absolutely phenomenal over the last 20 days or so since we’ve been here... The way he has trained and practised, and the way he’s connected with the group... You know, as a coach, sometimes leading into the series, there’s not really too much you can do once the game starts. What you’re really looking to do as a coach is to get the team into a really good headspace. And Virat has been phenomenal the way he has led the team, and been absolutely and truly a leader,” Dravid emphasised.
The head coach added: “I couldn’t speak more highly of him and the way he’s committed to his own preparation, his own practice. And also the way he’s connected with the group over the last two weeks on and off the field.”
Lean patch
But what about Kohli’s lean patch, which may hurt the team badly if the top order fails to contribute and bowlers collectively have a difficult time out in the middle?
Dravid replied: “There could be a variety of factors that happens to people at various stages in their career when they play for a long period of time.
“There are phases in your career where probably you know, you just feel you’re batting well, but the big scores don’t necessarily come. But the heartening point is that the likes of Virat and even Ajinkya (Rahane) seem to be batting really well and getting off to starts.
“It’s not that these guys don’t know how to get a 100 or haven’t done it before. Like I said, these are challenging conditions and I feel there could be some good runs round the corner.”
Since Team India reached South Africa, Kohli hasn’t attended any media conferences so far. The pre-departure conference, during which he claimed no one from the BCCI had asked him to reconsider quitting T20I captaincy, was the last time he spoke to the media.
Dravid, however, put an end to all speculation over the matter, saying that Kohli could be brought before reporters prior to the third and final Test, which would also be his 100th. “It will be an occasion to celebrate and you all can ask Virat about his landmark Test,” Dravid said.
