Ashwin on Kohli in England series: India’s premier off-spinner praised Kohli’s contribution to the current Indian team during an event.
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There is no hiding to the fact that Indian captain Virat Kohli has been a focal point of the Indian batting line-up in the recent years. Kohli has dominated the opposition bowlers at will across the globe.
With Kohli belting these runs match after match, it has had an adverse affect on the team especially when Kohli fails to contribute. It is normal for a batsman to not contribute, but with the Indian batting line-up depending significantly on Kohli, him not playing well causes problems for the team.
Ravichandran Ashwin, India’s leading off-spin bowler, was wax lyrical about his captain, speaking regarding how him being in the middle eases the nerves in the dressing room every single time.
“When Virat walked out to bat every time against England, I just felt that an incredible man was walking out to bat every single time because the ball was doing a lot, there was a lot of seam movement and every time he went and first ball he just defended and the dressing room just felt ease. That doesn’t happen just overnight, it’s has been a conscious effort,” said Ashwin regarding Kohli’s presence in the middle during the England series.
Speaking during India’s Today Salaam Cricket 2018, Ashwin had further approbation for Kohli. “Over the three-four years that I have seen Virat very closely, he makes one point very often. Somehow in the past I use to overlook the point but now I feel that’s what gives him success. Like you asked how do you handle pressure. We need to find the frequency of what we did when we were successful. It’s a very deep statement to make but I have been analysing it for a while and I just find it very fascinating.
“He’s talking about the mental space he finds himself in, it could be through music, it could be through the way he tunes himself or could be through the way he’s sitting in the dressing room and watching the game and I feel he has successfully captured the part of this playing the sport and batting. That he is able to achieve this level of excellency when he walks out to bat. He’s in complete control of his office,” Ashwin was quoted.
After India lost the Test series 1-4 in England, there were a lot of things said about how the scoreline doesn’t justify how India have played in this series. Ashwin was also vocal about how India missed clear opportunities during the Test series.
“When we started the series in England we believed we had a good chance. Like most people have been saying that the scoreline doesn’t dictate the way we played. As a cricketer I would like to say we did play some good cricket. But it was a great opportunity that we couldn’t take with both hands.
“Clearly what differentiates the home team and away team is that you should be able to match the home team in every department. I myself let down the team by getting out on that third evening in Southampton. Those are the kind of moments that we could have capitalised but we couldn’t. So England was an opportunity missed,” he added.
