Sachin Tendulkar and Ravi Shastri back Virat Kohli’s desire to improve

Ravi Shastri said that Kohli leads by example and is a big influence on the Indian team.

Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli | Getty Images

Sachin Tendulkar holds the record of most Tests (200), most runs in Tests (15,921), and most centuries (51) amongst others in the format. Tendulkar, however, had only good words to say about the current Indian captain Virat Kohli.

Talking to Sky Sports Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar said that "The best part about him is that the moment he realizes there are areas he needs to work on he is immediately back in the nets working on those things. A player can only move forward if he accepts - and it requires a lot to accept and admit: 'Okay, these are the areas where I have not done well and I need to go out and change these things

The India skipper has struck 5,554 runs in his 66 Tests to date at an average of 53.40. However, his record in England that of 134 runs in 10 innings against England proves to be an anomaly in his otherwise wonderful statistics.

Sachin Tendulkar says, "He is in a good space. All he needs to do is try and be in the same space. His method of preparing himself before a tour, before a game is really nice. He should continue with that. There are going to be ups and downs, there could be bad tours, but that's not the end of the world."   

The sentiments were echoed by Indian coach Ravi Shastri, who said to Nasser Hussain, on Kohli’s influence on Indian team, “Massive. His work ethics are second to none.

"The passion that he brings into the dressing room, wanting to play the game as a competitor. He wants to compete and it's like a disease - people want to emulate him, youngsters want to be like him. There is no excuse in him, he won't leave a stone unturned. The effort will be maximum and then you will see the results. He doesn't want anything easy - if he wants a hundred it should be a tough hundred in tough conditions. That's what makes him different from a lot of other players,” Shastri said.

Ravi Shastri further added, “He is never one to shy away from a challenge which I think is his biggest quality. I admire his preparation. He wants to excel but he knows there are no shortcuts.

(with inputs from skysports.com)

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 31 Jul, 2018

    Share Via