Virat Kohli, who was on a record-breaking spree with the bat a few years ago, has failed to live up to the expectations in recent times.
The owner of 70 international centuries, Virat hasn’t hit a ton since November 2019. Amid the talks around Kohli’s 71st hundred, India head coach Rahul Dravid has dismissed notions that the veteran batter is "lacking in motivation".
Dravid’s comment came two days ahead of the rescheduled fifth Test against England, slated to be played at Edgbaston.
The Indian coach wants Virat Kohli to make "match-winning contributions" even if it is not a three-figure mark.
See Also: “He is not yet been ruled out”, Rahul Dravid provides update on COVID-hit Rohit Sharma
"As players, you go through these phases and I don't think you need motivation to be very honest with you and I think in Virat's case it is nothing to do with lack of motivation or desire," Dravid said in a press conference on Wednesday (June 29).
"It's not always focussing on those three figures like even a 70-odd (79) in a difficult situation in Cape Town (vs SA) was a good innings. Didn't convert into a three-figure, but it was a good score.
"Obviously, the standards that he has set, people only see hundreds as a success but for me, from a coaches' perspective, we want contributions from him -- match-winning contributions, whether it is a 50 or a 60," he added.
According to Dravid, the 33-year-old Kohli isn't on the wrong side of 30 as many would like to believe.
“In my opinion, he is on the right side of 30 and he is an incredibly fit guy. He is one of the most hardworking guys that I have come across and his desire and hunger and whole attitude of looking after himself,” Dravid said.
"And his preparation, even the way he batted at Leicester, batting in those conditions and scoring the 50s and 60s, keen on playing against our bowlers, batting against Bumrah and all these guys. He is ticking all the right boxes and doing everything he needs to do to come out of it," he further remarked.
There have been reports doing the rounds that Jasprit Bumrah will lead India at Edgbaston if Rohit Sharma fails to recover in time from COVID-19.
Bumrah captaining the side would mean that six captains leading the Indian team across three formats in a space of seven months since Dravid took over as full-time coach.
"It is what it is. When I took this job, even I couldn't have predicted that we will have so many captains in six or seven months but that can happen in times we are living in, COVID-19, unfortunate injuries to people, what happened to Rahul (groin injury) and now to Rohit in last 3 weeks," Dravid said.
"Sometimes, we have had to balance out the workload and just have to react to that, its not something I wanted when I started off, not something you envisage when you start off but when they arise, you react and deal with them.
"...in spite of number of captains we have had, we have played pretty good cricket, over last six to eight months. We have got our contingency plans in place and communications are clear and within the group everyone knows what we are going to do if some situation arises,” he explained.
(With PTI inputs)
