Virat Kohli’s brilliant century in the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi has left fans in awe, and former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes the secret behind his stellar form is preparation away from the national cricket team environment.
In the opening match of the ongoing three-match ODI series against South Africa on 30 November, Virat Kohli played a brilliant inning of 135 runs off 120 balls, helping India reach a competitive score of 349/8. Later, with the help of Kuldeep Yadav’s four wickets, India defeated the Proteas by 17 runs in the last over.
Virat Kohli’s Ranchi heroics take everyone by surprise
Since moving to the United Kingdom, Kohli has focused on individual training, working on his game away from the distractions and pressures of the Indian camp.
Ahead of both the Australia tour and the ongoing home series against South Africa, most of Kohli’s preparation took place in England, with only final talks with the team.
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Ashwin said that the difference in preparation of Kohli is visible in his performance. The former Indian all-rounder highlighted Kohli’s focused training, including exercises targeting his hip flexors, as a key factor in his revived game.
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Ravichandran Ashwin said in a video on his YouTube channel, “I think he is practicing away from the noise and is not traveling with the Indian team; because of this, wherever he is preparing, he is getting some good practice. I don’t have 100 percent proof of that, but from what I have seen, he has worked on his hip flexors.”
Kohli’s innings in Ranchi reflected immense happiness and confidence, with a player looking completely in his element, and Ashwin was amazed to see his intent, footwork and overall happiness while batting.
“What stood out was Virat Kohli’s intention. We all know the kind of player Virat is and he has nothing left to prove to anyone. The intention he showed and the joy on his face – it was amazing to see,” Ashwin said.
After a point, when there’s nothing left to prove, it’s all about the joy of the game. I also liked that Virat emphasized that he played with complete joy and that is the most important thing. Virat Kohli looked like he was in the zone.
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Ravichandran Ashwin praised the blockbuster pitch after Ranchi’s explosive comeback in ODIs.
Meanwhile, Ranchi made a strong comeback to international cricket with a blockbuster performance in their first ODI after 2022. The JSCA International Cricket Stadium offered a dream batting affair, and both the teams posted a mammoth score of 681 runs.
The pitch played a major role in the madness – genuine bounce, a lightning-fast outfield, and heavy evening dew made batting easy from start to finish. And Ashwin felt that the pitch was a classic Indian bilateral ODI, where every ball brought excitement and every stroke brought the crowd to life.
Ashwin said, “This game made me realize that classic Indian ODI bilateral blast pitch. This pitch, even when South Africa were batting till the end, remained till the end. If you go into a batsman’s dream and ask him what kind of pitch he wants, he will take this pitch.”