Shane Watson has said that Virat Kohli will be an automatic starter in every format for India despite his poor form with the bat now.
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Former Australia cricketer and current Delhi Capitals head coach Shane Watson has said that Virat Kohli will be an automatic starter in every format for Team India despite his poor form with the bat now. He also added that Kohli has a lifetime worth of credit to earn the selectors’ backing as well.
However, Virat Kohli has been going through a tough time with the bat for quite some time now – be it in the international or in the Indian Premier League. While a lot was expected from Kohli as he had left the captaincy, nothing has changed in his fortune as he has managed 128 runs in 9 matches without a fifty so far in the IPL 2022.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Virat Kohli was promoted to open the batting, where he had tasted a lot of success, averaging over 40 in the past as well. However, he failed there too. Moreover, he looked uncomfortable during his 10-ball stay in the middle against the Rajasthan Royals before getting out to a bouncer off Prasidh Krishna.
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“In the end, Virat has got close to a lifetime’s worth of credit. He will come good, everyone knows he will come good. It’s about his decision, whether he thinks he will take some time off, whether he thinks he needs that, whether he decides to keep playing with a little bit of time to freshen up, he will be able to find it very quickly,” Shane Watson told The Grade Cricketer.
“You don’t lose your skill as he has got, it can be suppressed a little bit because of the situations or you’re a little bit tired or whatever, it can happen in the game of cricket. No one has gone about their career scoring runs non-stop, especially in a long career. There will be little periods where there will be a little bit of downtime. But Virat, he is just so good, he will find his way. He has got a lot of credit in his bank,” the veteran Australian cricketer further added.
Shane Watson, who had played a key role in Chennai Super Kings’ title win, has taken up the role of assistant coach at Delhi Capitals and he highlighted that a coach plays a key role in helping a player who is going through a rough patch. He again said that it’s all about keeping the player mentally fresh as well.
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“As a coach, you have to just be around him trying to make sure he is as mentally fresh as possible. Technically, he knows his game better than most players. It’s so ingrained. Knowing that it’s all around his mental freshness,” Shane Watson said.
“The intensity that he always had going into every game he played is superhuman. Knowing everyone that I have really seen, apart from a couple of guys, they have not been able to maintain that kind of intensity over years. Virat now has come to a point where it’s hard to maintain. So for me, it’s will be all round his mental freshness. That’s just around understanding individuals. His technique is always super good,” he concluded.
