Ishant Sharma, veteran India pacer, said that Virat Kohli can play a huge role in guiding young stars like Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal as he had once done with Mohammed Siraj and Rishabh Pant amongst others.
Sharma also believes that Kohli could lead by example and set the standard for how the newcomers and youngsters in the team should hold themselves.
This comes after young Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a century in his maiden Test outing for India against West Indies in the ongoing first Test in Dominica.
“The most important thing is that if you are a senior player, you will first have to score your own runs or else the juniors will also ask what is the point of you being a senior. However, I know that Virat Kohli will definitely score runs because of the mental frame he is in currently and the way he is batting,” said Ishant Sharma on JioCinema.
Virat Kohli ended his three years drought of centuries in Tests by scoring a ton against Australia recently at home, but last Test century away from home came in 2018. The form is there, but Kohli will want to use this West Indies tour to start providing numbers that back it up.
“He knows how to groom youngsters because he has captained the Indian team for so many years. When young boys came into our team, like Rishabh Pant or someone else, he never told them how to play in a particular situation. He always said that they should stick to their technique and should play the way they feel. If your captain backs you, it becomes a very important thing as a player,” said Ishant.
Kohli will resume on 36* and Jaiswal on 143* on day three of the first Test in Dominica.
