“It’s just a phase”: Rahul Dravid reckons Virat Kohli needs no motivation despite poor form ahead of Edgbaston Test match vs England

Rahul Dravid reckons Virat Kohli is an inspiration for people on and off the field; remains unperturbed on questions over his batting form.

In the absence of KL Rahul, and most probably skipper Rohit Sharma as well, in the imminent one-off Test match of the Pataudi Trophy series against England starting July 1, team India would want their former skipper Virat Kohli to lead from the front in the batting department, which lacks much of Test match experience.

With scores of 33 and 67 in the recently concluded 4-day warm-up match versus Leicestershire, Kohli did play some delightful strokes to inspire confidence in the team management and the ardent fans at large.

However, fans and Cricket followers across the globe are yet to witness the 71st international century off his bat, which has not been scored since the year 2019.

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid, however seems to be unperturbed by his average returns with the bat for quite some time now.

Rahul Dravid reckons Virat Kohli needs no motivation

Addressing the media via a virtual press conference on Wednesday evening, India head coach Rahul Dravid exclaimed that all the team expects is match-winnings contributions from him, and that he has ticked all the boxes as far as the process for the same is concerned.

“He’s ticking all the right boxes. There are phases but don’t think he needs motivation – it’s just a phase. We want match-winning contributions from him. He continues to contribute on and off the field and inspires a lot of guys,” remarked Dravid when questioned on Kohli’s form.

Despite scoring his last international ton in November 2019 against Bangladesh during the Pink-Ball Test match, Kohli has scored six half-centuries since then in Tests, and Dravid expects him to keep contributing to the team’s success without worrying about the three digit score.

To me, it doesn’t matter who the captain is for the Test vs England. Once toss happens, the leader of the pack for that game is still Virat Kohli.

Nobody can handle Ben Stokes better. : )

— KSR (@KShriniwasRao) June 29, 2022

With Cheteshwar Pujara likely to open the innings alongside either of Mayank Agarwal or Shubman Gill, expect Kohli to bat at no.3, a spot above his usual position in Tests.