A word of praise is equal to ointment on a sore. And the batting great Rahul Dravid did exactly the same as he was all praise for Virat Kohli in a press conference ahead of the second Test against South Africa which will start from Monday (January 3).
Virat has remained the focal point of debate, be it the alleged faction between him and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the Pandora box of the captaincy saga. Right after he relinquished the T20 captainship, the furor just didn't stop. The turn of events culminated in his sacking from the ODI captainship.
Then comes the Team India head coach, who spoke highly of the India Test skipper and termed Virat as a phenomenal leader amid all the negativity around him.
"Virat has truly been a great leader. I can't speak more highly of him. We got to see a glimpse of it in the first Test match in Centurion when his leadership came to the fore once again," Rahul said.
The former India star batter also said that how Virat, just by his mere presence, helps in keeping the team's morale high.
'It's not difficult to keep up the team's morale when you have Virat as a leader. The job of a coach becomes a lot easier. He is someone who takes care of the vibe in the dressing room. I do feel, we get to see his best when it comes to batting in the coming matches despite all the noise that’s been there," Rahul added.
Another issue has been batting form. India lead the ongoing series 1-0 but Kohli's inability to convert starts over the last two years and his play outside the off stump has remained the talking point.
"As coach, there's not really too much you can do once the game starts... there's not too much that you can control in the results...we're really looking to prepare well and get the team into a good space," Dravid said.
"...the way he's committed to his own preparation, his own practice. And also just the way he's connected with the group over the last two weeks on and off the field. He has truly been a fantastic leader.
"So, that's really helped in creating a really good space leading into the first Test match. A lot of that was led by Virat and his leadership really came to the fore. It's been a pleasure to work with someone like him." Dravid sees Kohli back to scoring hundreds very soon, something he has not done in over two years.
"Even personally, he's in a really good space and even though he sort of batted well and couldn't convert those starts, I feel there's going to be big runs, really good scores coming in from someone like him," the India coach signed off.
