‘Sunil Gavaskar’s suggestions are welcome, but…’: Virat Kohli’s coach sends important message

Sunil Gavaskar’s advice to struggling Virat Kohli to follow Sachin Tendulkar’s epic 241 in Sydney, where he did not play a single cover drive, was met with disapproval by the current megastar’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma, who was not at all amused by the suggestion. “Sunil Gavaskar has been a great player and his suggestions are always welcome, but I hope he will also give others tips on their game,” Sharma, a former Delhi player who coached Kohli since his teens, told PTI on Tuesday.

To be fair, Gavaskar, who scored 10,000 Test runs and 34 hundreds for the first time in history, did not single out Kohli but spoke at length about the players during his commentary as well.

“He has been performing well since 2008. It wouldn’t be fair to say he’s out of shape after two innings. He has already scored a hundred in this series. How many players scored a hundred in the series? Sharma countered by citing his man’s second-innings ton in Perth, which came after India had secured a 300-odd lead.

In comparison, Kohli’s first average in the 2024-25 season, starting with the Bangladesh series, is 73 runs in 8 completed innings at an average of 9.125. Sequence of scores: 6, 47, 0, 1, 4, 5, 7 and 3 (Brisbane first innings).

Does he feel bad about being criticized for not scoring fifty in eight consecutive Tests? “To be honest, I didn’t know much about statistics, but the type of player he is, he’ll bounce back. I think he’s too good a player to be criticized because he was the most consistent player in history.” The history of Indian cricket,” the coach seemed a little condescending to me.

Is it more about the mind than the technique? “Nothing to do with technique or even intelligence, he’s old enough to understand the game,” he replied.

Sharma then revealed that he had spoken to Kohli but chose not to reveal details of their conversation to the media.

“We talked to each other and said some things that I wouldn’t say in public. But he is quite a mature player and knows where he is wrong. He’ll bounce back and you’ll see that in the episode itself.” ”

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