New Delhi: As India look to recover from a disappointing white-ball tour of the United Kingdom, former batting coach Sanjay Bangar has revealed the incredible lengths to which Virat Kohli went to defeat English culture, offering a fascinating insight into the careful preparation.India’s tour comes off a 0-2 T20I series defeat by Ireland followed by an incredible 0-3 win against England in the five-match T20I series after losing by nine wickets in the fourth match in Bristol on Thursday.With the crucial fifth T20I still to come, the focus is already on the three-match ODI series starting in Birmingham on Tuesday, where seasoned campaigners Kohli and Rohit Sharma will return under the captaincy of Shubman Gill.
‘We poured extra water on the pitch’
Speaking on The Great Indian Cricket Show on Doordarshan, Bangar recalled how Kohli completely changed his preparation after enduring a disappointing tour of England in 2014.“When you go to England, every game comes down to two things: how you deal with swings, and whether you can play the ball late,” Bangar said. “Because Virat Kohli did not perform well in the 2014 tour, he has worked hard in 2017-18 to fix that.”Bangar revealed that the Indian curriculum in Mumbai was designed to imitate English as much as possible.“Our routine was brutal; we hit the ground in Mumbai at 6:00 or 6:30 in the morning to chase the first dew. We wanted to start early so that we could repeat the English experience, using the rich morning air and natural humidity on an uncovered surface,” he said.As the season slowed, the coaches changed.“When the sun comes out and the humidity on the wicket starts to drop, we pour extra water on top to prevent the ball from shaking,” he added.
Learn what has been achieved
According to Bangar, Kohli embraced the important stages repeatedly in pursuit of technical skills against the ball.“Virat did this difficult routine over and over again,” he revealed.The former batting coach believes that these hard-fought efforts played a major role in India’s success in England.“Because three or four of our batsmen were able to fine-tune their batting through those tests, we won a lot of matches there,” he said.The revelation came at a time when India’s young batsmen struggled in the clubhouse during the ongoing T20I series in Ireland and England.Kohli, who trained in Mumbai and Bangar before heading to England for the ODI part of the tour, is expected to shoulder the key batting role alongside Rohit Sharma as India try to salvage some pride after a disappointing T20I campaign.