'Baat kar rahe the ki khana kaha acha milta hai': Dravid's stunning reply to reporter's query on lengthy chat with Kohli

Kohli was seen gearing up strongly for the clash and also had a lengthy chat with head coach Rahul Dravid at the nets. When asked about the star batter and his chat with him before the blockbuster tie, Dravid responded in a stunning fashion.

Former India captain Virat Kohli has made a decent return to the T20I side, scoring 35 against Pakistan and an unbeaten 59 against Hong Kong to rule the run-scoring chart of his team in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022. With India up against Pakistan for the second time in the tournament, this time in the Super 4 stage of the tournament, Kohli's form will be key for the Men in Blue. He was seen gearing up strongly for the clash and also had a lengthy chat with head coach Rahul Dravid at the nets. When asked about the star batter and his chat with him before the blockbuster tie, Dravid responded in a stunning fashion.

-Rahul Dravid with Virat Kohli

In the pre-match presser for the Dubai clash between India and Pakistan on Sunday, Dravid was asked Kohli's return to the Indian team and what chat did he had with him at the nets, pointing out that it was a lengthy conversation between the two.

With the smile, Dravid replied saying, "Bahut lagega yaar yaha pe. Pehli baat, players and coaches ke beech jo baatein hoti he woh me aake media me toh baat nahi karunga. Haa yeh bhi baat kar rahe the ki khana kaha acha milta hai Dubai me. Unko bahut ache resturants bhi pata he yaha pe. So woh bhi advice kar rahe the. (See, I can't reveal the conversations between player and coach. But yes, we were also talking about where we can get good food here. He knows a lot of good restuarants here)"

Despite the fifty he managed against Hong Kong, his below par strike-rate coming in at No. 3 has been questioned time and again and Dravid jumped to his defence when asked about his form and performance in the two matches so far.

"He's (Kohli) also coming back after a break, it's nice to see that he's come back fresh, looking forward to playing all these games. He got time to spend in the middle. Hopefully he will kick on from here on and have a good tournament," Dravid said ahead of the Asia Cup Super 4s game against Pakistan.

The former India batter also opined that Kohli's form remains the least concern for the management and also urged critics to not be obsessed with his numbers.

"For us, it's not really about how many runs he makes. Especially with Virat, people get a little bit obsessed with his statistics and numbers. For us, it's really not about that," 'The Wall' said.

"It's about the contributions he makes at different phases of the game. It doesn't have to be in 50s or 100s or a stat for us, even a small contribution makes a lot for us in T20s. He's really keen on putting on good performances," Dravid said.