Dhoni tells me not to cross the line of aggression: Kohli

June 11, 2012

Dhoni_Stop

Virat Kohli's on-field aggression has been the topic of discussion in the cricket fraternity but the India vice-captain is working hard on changing his attitude with words of wisdom from his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"I have been speaking to MS (Dhoni) a lot about it. He is one who doesn't sink or go above that line. He is someone who is always around that calm line. It is important to learn such things from such important people.

"He keeps telling me that once I stay around that line I would keep improving as a cricketer. Once that graph goes too much above or drops you end up putting yourself under pressure," Kohli said on Sunday.

Asked whether vice-captaincy has made him more conscious, he stated, "When I became vice-captain, people around me told me that I need to change my aggression. Because people are watching me more and I need to change my aggressive attitude.

"You learn with time. Initially, I reacted in a way I shouldn't have. When I look back now...it was not natural. The build-up and the pressure or the special occasions make it tough to control the aggression."

Call him a senior batsman in the team, and the 23-year-old retorts, "Please, I am not a senior batsman in this team. Good performances in a mere couple of seasons don't make anyone a senior batsman. A person becomes senior batsman when he has performed consistently for six or seven years."

By his own admission, Virat had put a lot of pressure on himself prior to the IPL after a great international season.

"To be honest, I was feeling the pressure more during the first half of IPL. I thought that I have set certain standards and I have to live up to it. It shifted me away from game plan. Latter half (of IPL), I was back on track.

"I am happy that it happened soon, I was able to realise that and able to learn from it. It is important you need to know your mindset and how to meet the expectations regardless of whether you are in or out of the team."

Asked if he is under extra pressure with Rahul Dravid's retirement opening the door for another youngster among the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma or Ajinkya Rahane in the Test XI, Kohli said, "It's impossible to match consistency of someone like Rahul bhai. But I thrive in pressure situations. If there isn't pressure, there is isn't any fun."

"I like challenges. You look to improve in areas that you wouldn't have thought before. I don't pay attention to comparisons. Six or seven of us are there who will all be playing for India for a long time. Among the lot I will leave Rohit out as he is way talented among the lot. I know we will all be colleagues in the Indian team in near future."

Kohli felt that 10 Tests at home will give the new-look middle-order time to settle down before they play overseas.

"It's a good thing that we will play at home. Remember England and Australia beat us in their backyard. I can site my example. Before Tests in Australia, I had played against West Indies and got a few runs, it boosted my confidence."

And what was it that he did differently in Australia, Kohli replied with a wry smile, "I stopped reading the newspapers. In the first two matches, I was getting influenced by what all was being written and said about me. Criticism is natural when you are not doing well.

"I just blocked that out of my system. I started believing in myself. I kept telling myself that I had 8 ODI hundreds and that can't be fluke. I am good enough to do well at this level. I was in a zone and I played in a manner I wanted to. I didn't try and copy someone else."

According to Kohli, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus are the two best pacers he has played against, with Sunil Narine and Saeed Ajmal being the two most difficult spinners to face.

Since there isn't any chance to play the longer version of the game before the New Zealand Test series, Kohli said that he is going to increase his batting time at the nets.

"We will have some practice games. Even if we don't have, I am sure to increase the hours I put in at the nets. I will be batting for at least three hours. Each individual has his own way of preparing. I will again be starting from zero and would like to improve as a batsman," he concluded.



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News Network
January 28,2020

New Delhi, Jan 28: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is clear that while they have no problem with the Pakistan Cricket Board hosting the 2020 edition of the Asia Cup -- set to be a preparatory ground for the T20 World Cup in Australia -- the venue needs to be a neutral one as travelling to the neighbouring country isn't an option at present.

Speaking to news agency, a BCCI official said that the hosting rights is not an issue and it is just a case of picking a neutral venue as the Indian team wouldn't be travelling to Pakistan for the T20 tournament that will see the top Asian teams in action.

"The question isn't about the PCB hosting the tournament. It is about the venue and as things stand now, it is quite clear that we would need a neutral venue. There is no way that an Indian team can visit Pakistan to even participate in a multi-nation event like the Asia Cup. If the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is ok with an Asia Cup minus India then it is a different ball game. But if India is to participate in the Asia Cup, then the venue cannot be Pakistan," the official said.

In fact, issues in obtaining visa for Pakistan players to come and play the 2018 edition of the Asia Cup in India was one of the major reasons why the tournament was shifted out of the country with BCCI hosting the event in UAE.

The official said that the PCB can do just the same and host the event in a neutral venue. "A neutral venue is always an option. BCCI did it in 2018," the official pointed.

Cricket returned to Pakistan after a decade when Sri Lanka toured the nation in 2019. While Sri Lanka was the first nation to play a full series in the country, Bangladesh is currently in the country as they just finished playing three T20Is. They will play a Test from February 7 to 11 and then play a one-off ODI before playing the second Test from April 5 to 9.

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Agencies
March 10,2020

Mumbai, Mar 10: The addition of two new members, including the chairman, in the national selection committee, has not changed the panel's stance on M S Dhoni, who will "have to perform" in the upcoming IPL to be considered for T20 World Cup selection, a top BCCI official told PTI.

The Sunil Joshi-led selection panel met for the first time in Ahmedabad on Sunday to pick a rather "straightforward" squad for the three ODIs against South Africa beginning in Dharamsala on March 12.

Fit-again Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan made their way back into the side.

Joshi's predecessor MSK Prasad had made it clear that the team has moved on from Dhoni and he has to first play to be considered for selection.

Dhoni, who has not played since the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in July, will be making his highly-awaited comeback in the IPL beginning March 29.

"It was a pretty straightforward selection meeting and since Dhoni was obviously not in the reckoning this time (for South Africa series), there was no formal talk about his future," a BCCI source told PTI.

"He will be back in the reckoning only if he has a good IPL. And why only him, there are so many senior and young players who will play in the IPL. If they do well, they are ought to be considered too. So, you could see some surprise inclusions," he said.

The T20 World Cup will be played in Australia in October-November and the games India play after the IPL leading up to the mega event will also be a factor in the final squad selection.

"But the performance in the IPL could be the clincher," the source added.

Head coach Ravi Shastri too has hinted that Dhoni could be back after a good IPL but his future remains a subject of intense speculation as he has not played a game in more than seven months.

With his heir apparent Rishabh Pant not setting the world on fire and K L Rahul being groomed into a full-time wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni's comeback cannot be ruled out.

His countless fans will finally get to see him in action when he leads Chennai Super Kings against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener at Wankhede Stadium on March 29.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has said that Virat Kohli understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through success in the longest format of the game.

Dravid, popularly known as 'The Wall', also said that Test batsmanship has become exciting to watch now as batters play aggressive shots more often.

"I actually believe Test batsmanship has become more exciting than before, the aggressive element of Test batsmanship is going forward, players are playing shots and it is good to see, a good thing for India is Virat Kohli really values Test cricket, he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come from his success in Test cricket," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that defensive batting in cricket is not irrelevant, but added that players can have successful careers without having a good defensive technique.

"I don't think it is becoming irrelevant, maybe the value of defensive batting is not the same as it was a generation ago, it can never become irrelevant, I think you still need to defend your wicket if you want to score suns, I feel now you can survive without a good defensive technique in cricket," Dravid said.

"Today, you do not need to have a good Test career to have a successful career, look at the best players in the world today, a lot of them have a good defensive technique and they can play out difficult periods of the game," he added.

The 47-year-old Dravid also said that all young players want to represent their country in all three formats during their initial days, but eventually, they become realistic as time passes by.

"I would say in my interaction with the younger players, everyone's hero is someone who has succeeded in all formats of the game. I think all players start off wanting to play all formats, but then guys get a little realistic about their careers, superstars of the game will still want to play to all formats of the game," Dravid said.

Dravid is the only player in the history of cricket to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships.

He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I for India. Dravid had announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012.

He finished his career with 48 international centuries.

He has also coached the Indian junior sides (India U-19 and India A) and he is now the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Dravid has also led the side during his playing days and under his leadership, the side had managed to register their first Test series win in England.

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