Modern-day batting greats and amazing rivals on the field, India’s Virat Kohli and Australia’s Steve Smith, got together for half an hour and discussed cricket and answer a few questions, in a video shared by Cricket Australia and the BCCI on their social media platforms.
Organized to promote the start of the Vodafone Test Series, which begins in Adelaide tomorrow (Dec 17), the two genius-level batters discussed their origin stories, what it's like being in the 'zone', and dealing with expectation.
During the discussion, both players mentioned that they found cricket through their fathers. Kohli's dad would throw balls for his son to smash with a plastic cricket bat, while Smith's "old man" did the same.
AUS v IND 2020-21: Virat Kohli states, "I am the representation of a New India"
Kohli emphasized that though he had always dreamt of playing for India, it wasn’t until the untimely passing of his father Prem, when Virat was 18 years old, that he focused all his energy on his cricket aspirations.
“It was tough but it somehow put things into perspective. I just became single-minded from then on, focused to play for a long time, I didn't think I was going to get dropped from the team. It was a pure motivation and the will to move forward,” Kohli said.
He also revealed that after a poor showing in the 2009 Champions Trophy, he thought his India days were numbered. "I remember getting out for 16 trying to hit Shahid Afridi over his head for six. I was caught at long-off and we lost the game and until 5 am in the morning I was looking at the ceiling I was like 'I'm done. That's it, I'm gone'," he recalled.
Steve Smith, on the other hand, had made his debut for Australia in 2010 as a leg-spinner, as the Kangaroos searched for the next Shane Warne or the next Stuart Macgill.
AUS v IND 2020-21: Ian Chappell advises India to bowl full to Steve Smith to trouble him
"It was 2012 when I got dropped. I played two Tests as a spinner, three as an all-rounder, I was batting at six and I got dropped so I thought 'What was the best way to get back into the Australian side and have a successful career?' So I thought 'Right, it's time to let go of spin'. I had so many people saying 'Don't do it, you need to keep focusing on different parts of your game,” Smith said.
“I was like, 'This is my decision and I want to be the best batsman I can be,” he added.
Both the batsmen are known to get into ‘that zone’ where their focus is solely on batting and winning the game for their team. Kohli went first while discussing his zone and recalled the important match between India and Australia of the 2016 T20 World Cup in Mohali.
Kohli scored 82* helping India chase down a stiff target and qualify for the semi-finals.
"I went into a trance mode. You feel like things are looking difficult and you just think about committing to what the team needs. I still don't know how it happened, it was like everything I was hitting was going into gaps. I went into a zone that not even I could break down after. I felt that was so special because it's getting into that space while you're batting where you're under pressure and everything is coming off. That is probably my most favorite limited-overs innings,” he said.
For Steve Smith, that zone came in the 2013-14 Ashes Test against England in Perth and he debuted his massive crab-like trigger to the world.
"(England) was bowling some short stuff and I was struggling to get out of the way of it. (Stuart) Broad and (Ben) Stokes in particular. I thought I need to get myself in a better position to one, play the pull shot or two, and get out of the way of the ball. So I thought 'Why don’t I go to middle and leg, go back a bit and get myself in a good position,” Smith said.
"Everything sort of clicked into place. That was the start of my 'prelim' movement – it's got bigger and bigger over time but that was the start and I've been doing it ever since. Never practiced it in my life I just had an instinctive thing to do it out in the middle and it clicked into place,” Smith added.
Michael Vaughan backs Steve Smith to captain Australia again; says Cape Town incident is history
The discussion then moved on to the 2014-15 Test series between the two sides in Australia. The pair made four centuries each and captained their countries for the first time.
"It's funny because I visualized for two months and then we prepared so much to play the first Test and then I walk in four balls before lunch and Mitchell Johnson hit me the first ball in the head. I just stood there thinking, 'I've prepared for two-and-a-half months, and the first ball hits me on the head. What the hell is going on?'” Kohli recalled.
Kohli decided then and there to take the attack to the Australians and it paid off in glorious, brutal fashion.
Steve Smith then thanked Kohli again for his gesture of asking the Indian fans to stop booing Smith during the 2019 World Cup game. Smith, and David Warner, had been copping abuse from crowds all over Britain in their comeback tournament from their 12-month bans, but Kohli was not happy with the treatment Indian fans were giving them.
AUS v IND 2020-21: Virat Kohli backs Ajinkya Rahane to do ‘tremendous job’ as captain in his absence
"There was a lot of negative stuff towards me when I first came back and I like to prove people wrong, so it's kind of like 'You guys are booing me, screw you. I'm going to try and do whatever I can to either keep you quiet or make you come at me even more'. I just want to perform and entertain,” Smith said about the harsh welcome from England crowd after his return from the ban.
Smith also paid respect to Kohli for going back home after the first Test to be present for the birth of his first child with his wife, actress Anushka Sharma.
The first Test begins on December 17, 9.30 AM IST onwards on Sony Network.
(cricket.com.au inputs)
