On the eve India’s second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg, head coach Dravid insists out-of-form skipper Virat Kohli will deliver a big score very soon; backs Rahane and Pujara to build on their starts too
India captain Virat Kohli. Pic/Getty Images
India's Test team captain, Virat Kohli has not scored a century in the last two years, but head coach Rahul Dravid has strong faith in his abilities to bounce back nevertheless.
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On the eve of India’s second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg, former India captain, Dravid, exuded confidence in the current leader and insisted that he will be back among the big scorers very soon.
“It might not happen in the next game—I would really hope it happens in the next game—but I do feel with someone like him [Kohli], we’re going to see a really big run of scores once that clicks in place, because he’s really led the way, and I couldn’t speak more highly of him,” Dravid said on Sunday.
Rahul Dravid. Pic/Suresh Karkera
Kohli managed just 35 and 18 in the Centurion Test which India won by 113 runs last week. His average in the last 14 Tests since 2020 is a mere 26.08. But Dravid, who has over 24,000 international runs to his name, said the skipper is in a good frame of mind despite the recent controversies following his sudden removal as ODI captain.
‘Absolutely phenomenal’
“I think Virat has been absolutely phenomenal over the last 20 days or so that we’ve been here [in SA]—the way he has trained, the way he has practiced, the way he has connected with the group. I know there’s been a lot of noise on other issues outside of the group, even leading into this Test match, but honestly, in terms of keeping the morale high, it’s not been very difficult because, to be honest, it’s been led by the skipper himself,” added Dravid, who also went on to throw his weight behind the other struggling, but experienced middle-order batters—Ajinkya Rahane (scored 48 and 20 at Centurion Test) and Cheteshwar Pujara (scored 0 and 16 at Centurion).
Variety of factors in play
“It [lack of runs] could be a variety of factors. It happens to people at various stages of their careers when you play for a long time. It happens to everyone, you feel you’re batting well, but the big scores don’t come often. I think it’s happening with all three of them. But it’s a good thing that they [Kohli, Rahane and Pujara] are looking in good touch and they will know how to convert these starts into big knocks. I do feel as a coach, that watching them train and looking at them being in a good space, the big scores are just around the corner,” said Dravid.
Meanwhile, this will be Kohli’s 99th Test. He has 7,854 Test runs under his belt at an average of 50.34, with 27 hundreds and as many half-centuries. And Dravid made it clear that the India captain was not avoiding the press, but will be addressing the media prior to his landmark 100th Test which will be played in Cape Town from January 11.
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