Skipper Virat Kohli says being in control of his mind has helped him score runs in all conditions as India take on Australia with aim to make it 2-1 in third Test
Virat Kohli prepares to bat in Melbourne ahead of the third Test v Australia on Monday. Pic/Getty Images
It's been a difficult year for India's batsmen in Test cricket. Apart from the two games v WI in Rajkot and Hyderabad in October, all their other 10 Tests have been in alien lands, on pitches, in conditions and against attacks that have put them through a seriously searching examination.
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Just as India's faster bowlers have gorged themselves on the opposition batting, their batsmen have fallen prey to such skillful practitioners as Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel and Lungi Ngidi in SA, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali in England, and to Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon here in Australia.
What a year!
The one notable exception has been the captain. In 12 Tests, Virat Kohli has amassed 1,240 runs at 55.73, inclusive of five hundreds. His tally is nearly 300 runs more than Joe Root, No. 2 on the charts for 2018, and upwards of 500 runs more than Cheteshwar Pujara who, with 731 runs also from 12 games, is India's second highest scorer this calendar year.
The key to scoring in conditions that ask questions of both technique and character, Kohli said, was one's mindset. "There is no real secret," he said.
In good space
"For me, what has worked is being comfortable in where I am playing. Not necessarily looking at how difficult the wicket is, but if you are able to feel comfortable there, then you are more or less in control of what you want to do. As a batsman, if at any stage, you are hesitating or scared of the pace and the bounce, then you are definitely going to get hit," added Kohli.
"It's something that you sit in your room and work on, it's not that you can arrive and feel on that particular day. It's something that I work on, the mindset bit, to get into that frame of mind where you feel like you are ready to get runs anywhere."
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