Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan leg-spinner narrated a fascinating story about India’s great batter Virat Kohli’s determination ahead of Asia Cup 2022.
Rashid Khan said during IPL 2022, he was completely taken aback by seeing Virat Kohli’s preparations on the eve of a Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Titans match.
Rashid Khan Was Shocked To See Virat Kohli Practice Batting At Nets For 2 And Half Hours
Rashid Khan, who plays for the Gujarat Titans, said the Royal Challengers Bangalore- RCB batter was practicing in the nets for about two and half hours even after the rest of the players had completed their entire training session.
“During the IPL, we had a match the next day against RCB. In the nets, I was just counting the time Virat was out there. To be honest, he batted for two and half hours.
“I was so shocked. Our nets were finished and still, he was there batting. The next day he scored around 70 against us. His mindset is very positive,” Rashid Khan sports presenter Sawera Pasha ahead of the Asia Cup 2022.
Virat Kohli ended up scoring 73 off 54 balls – his highest score in IPL 2022 – the next day to guide RCB to an easy eight-wicket win over Gujarat Titans by chasing down 169 in 18.4 overs.
Things, however, have not gone smoothly for Virat Kohli of late. The former India captain has seen a drastic dip in form in Test cricket while his match-winning efforts in white-ball cricket have been too few and far in between in the last couple of years.
Virat Kohli scored only two half-centuries in the IPL 2022 and failed to go past the 20-run mark across all formats during the tour of England in July. He was rested for the West Indies tour that included three ODIs and five T20Is and the Zimbabwe tour that included three ODIs and will make a return to the side in the Asia Cup.
The run machine Virat Kohli was last seen during the tour of England, where he could only amass 76 runs in six innings. After his worst season in the IPL 2022 for Royal Challengers Bangalore where he scored just 341 runs at an average of 22.73, Virat Kohli endured a lean patch on the England tour as well.
Rashid Khan: Expectations Are Such That Everyone Only Want Centuries From Virat Kohli
Rashid Khan, however, said Virat Kohli is not out-of-form. The Afghanistan leg-spinner said such is the expectation from Virat Kohli that it appears that he has not scored for long but in reality, he has been making useful contributions to the side.
“When he bats, he plays such wonderful shots that to me, he doesn’t appear to be out-of-form at all. The expectations are much more. People want him to score a hundred every second game. If you look at his Test match innings, he has got through the tough time, batted well, then somehow he has gotten out for 50 or 60 or 70. If there was any other normal batter then everyone would have said that he is in form but with Virat, the expectations are such that they only want centuries,” Rashid said.
Virat Kohli has returned to the Indian side for the Asia Cup starting August 27 after skipping the West Indies and Zimbabwe tours. He arrived in Dubai with the rest of the Indian squad on Tuesday evening and in his first net session on Wednesday, appeared to be in fine touch.
“Whenever I have had a word with him he has made it clear that people’s expectations don’t really bother him. The way that he prepares, I think it is an example for all of us.
“We tend to get motivated and put in more effort after watching him practice. A certain time comes in your career when whatever you try, doesn’t work. But we as fans, want him to score big runs and I’m sure the hundreds will also come,” he added.
Rashid Khan will be in action in the Asia Cup opener against Sri Lanka on Saturday while India starts their campaign the next day against Pakistan in Dubai.