India's prime batter Virat Kohli went into the Boxing Day Test with just one practice session in South Africa. Kohli was absent from the three-day intra-squad practice game played in Pretoria as he had taken permission to go to the UK for personal reasons. He had to walk out early in the Centurion Test and looked in good touch despite the dropped catch for a single-digit score. He had to return to the dressing room as Kagiso Rabada bowled a brilliant delivery to get the better of him. After the day’s play, batting coach Vikram Rathour came in support of Kohli saying that he does not need much practice to get back in the groove.
"The stage of his career Virat (Kohli) is, I don't think he needs a lot of practice," Rathour said on December 26.
"He bats a lot and trains a lot. So, if he practiced a few days less, doesn't matter much. We saw, how well he was playing. It didn't seem he was away from red ball cricket for six months. It's a good sign," the former India opener said.
Kohli departed after scoring 38 runs as India lost half the side for 107. KL Rahul took control of the innings and shared crucial partnerships with lower-order batters. Rathour hailed him as the 'crisis man' as his unbeaten 70 took the visitors past 200 before bad light and rain stopped play.
"Rahul is turning out to be man of crisis for us. Every time, there are tough situations, he is the guy who handles it well for us. Nothing special, he was clear with his game plans, defended the right balls, attacked the right ones," Rathour said.
Rathour backed the batters as the track and conditions in Centurion were challenging for the Indian batters.
"It was always going to be challenging. The weather was an issue. The wicket was under cover for a day or more than that. It was always going to be challenging as batting group. We would have loved to have couple of more wickets in hand. But we have done reasonably well," he explained.
"Post lunch, Rabada bowled an exceptional spell. We have to try and add as many runs as possible but as we have seen historically, this wicket deteriorates," he further added.
South African pacers unleashed a barrage of short balls with a leg slip. Rahul and Shardul Thakur copped a few as they tried to rebuild the innings.
"Not very often but in last series also there were 5-6 dismissals down leg side. At lunch, they bowled 65 balls down leg, if they bowled outside off, whether they would have got same success, that's debatable," the 54-year-old said.
"Because of tennis ball like spongy bounce, it was a difficult delivery to control as you saw how (Shubman) Gill got out. I feel they used it as a tactic," he added.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
