Virat Kohli's five-match Test series against England in 2014 is still remembered as one of the most difficult periods of his international career. In the five tests, he received scores of 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0, 7, 6, and 20. Kohli was "in a state of shock" and "reeling," according to Ravi Shastri, who took over as India's Team Director shortly after that terrible tour. After the 2021 T20 World Cup, the former all-rounder, who did not stay as India's head coach, stated he thought "there was enough there" for Kohli to return to his old form.
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"When I initially came on board, my first task was to find someone who could walk the walk, and I identified Virat Kohli to be the man with the right character, game, and attitude to fill Dhoni's shoes."
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"Virat was reeling from his England trip since he didn't get many runs. He was in shock at how things had turned out. But it was clear that there was still enough to start him going. "There would be no turning back once he was back on his feet," Shastri stated in an interview.
After working out a few batting approaches, Shastri detailed how Kohli gradually regained his confidence.
"I began to keep a careful eye on him. I could see his confidence returning with each passing day as I watched him more attentively. Those first two to three months were spent getting to know the crew. We began to discuss a variety of topics, including batting tactics, the way forward, and a variety of other topics" he added.
Kohli will return to form on the 2014-15 Australia tour. In the middle of that four-match series, the prolific right-hander was also chosen India's Test captain, scoring 692 runs at an average of 86.50, including four hundreds.
"And I believe it truly came to a head in Australia, when he finally agreed with everything we spoke about. He was willing to walk the talk - not only in his own game, but in the manner we wanted the squad to play as well "Shastri explained.
India lost the series 2-0, but Shastri said the squad played some excellent cricket, with Kohli at the helm.
"On that tour, he set the bar extremely high, scoring four century and a fifty. We lost the series 2-0, but I recall Alan Border approaching me at the conclusion of the series in Sydney and saying: "Rav, you've done a fantastic job. There aren't many teams that bat on the final day of a Test match at the colosseums of Melbourne and Sydney.
"And this after a nail-biting first Test in which he scored a century in both innings and solidified his desire to play excellent, aggressive cricket in Australia. The manner in which we went for a 360-plus run chase on the final day of that Test demonstrated the type of cricket we wanted to play "Shastri explained.