WI v IND 2023: “He walks the talk…,” India fielding coach T Dilip lauds Virat Kohli’s fitness levels

Virat Kohli slammed his 29th Test ton on Day 2 of the second Test in Port of Spain.

Virat Kohli | GettyVirat Kohli put on a show with the bat in the first innings of the second Test between India and West Indies at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain.

In what was his 500th international appearance, Kohli slammed 121 to help the visitors rack up a mammoth 438/10 in their first essay.

With this knock, Virat ended a five-year wait for an overseas Test century and also equalled the legendary Sir Donald Bradman’s tally of 29 tons in the longest format of the game.

Impressed with Kohli’s innings, Indian fielding coach T Dilip lauded the latter’s fitness levels. The star batter’s knock included only 11 boundaries as he accumulated most of his runs through running between the wickets.

"He walks the talk when it comes to fitness," Dilip in a post-match press conference.

"It mainly comes down to his discipline and how he takes care of himself. It has been 10 years and he is the most attacking fielder. It rubs off well on the youngsters. Everybody looks up to him - not just our team, but everybody in the world - A person like him, running around and attacking the ball so well," he added.

The fielding coach thinks that Kohli has carried on from where he left off in the first Test in Dominica.

"A good part of a player is how consistently he scores. He has continued his form from the last match into this," Dilip said.

"He did not start off with flamboyant drives right away. He had to grind as he did in the first game. His application was fantastic, at the same time his temperament on that wicket...there were spells where the West Indies bowlers came good and he respected them. When he had to capitalise, he did that. Overall, the way he paced his innings was fantastic," he further remarked.

India’s spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja (61) and R Ashwin (56) scored half-centuries in the first innings of the second Test, and the field coach was full of praise for how they have demonstrated their batting abilities.

"If you look at Ashwin and Jadeja, everybody around the world knows them for their bowling performances. But if you see of late, especially Jadeja, he has improved his batting tremendously that he is batting at No. 6 now," Dilip said.

"That's a fantastic sign for India because it gives a great combination. Ashwin always has that temperament and the application to score runs. Having these two together not just gives us advantage with the bowling, but also with the batting," he stated.

(With ANI Inputs)

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 23 Jul, 2023

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