Play short ball or forget internationals: Kohli on 3 coaches who shaped his career

The Indian captain also spoke about the sessions with former South Africa wicket-keeper and current coach Mark Boucher and recalled how he was asked to improve his game against the short ball.

Team India captain Virat Kohli hailed the impact of different coaches in shaping his career and said that these people understood his game and they made him a better player. He spoke about former India captain Gary Kirsten and the impact he had on his career.

File image of Virat Kohli (Hindustan Times)

In the Instagram live session with AB de Villiers, Kohli recalled the initial few session with Gary Kirsten and the chats they had regarding his game. de Villiers too spoke about how Kirsten understood the game and helped put his thoughts across which were always very clear and they gave immense clarity.

“Gary Kirsten had one session with me when I was 19. And I’ll never in my life forget that, I’ll never forget the words he said. That’s the kind of impact a person can have on someone’s life,” said de Villiers.

“I can remember a few people, who sort of growing into my career (who had a lot of impact)… Gary (Kirsten) was obviously the first coach that I interacted with when I entered the Indian team and he gave me just positive advice. I used to have a problem of my front foot falling too far across and I used to speak to him about this and he would say your head’s good, you’re not getting hit on the pads. So why are worrying about the front foot? The positive feedback helped me always. It was just the way to look at things,” said Kohli.

The Indian captain also spoke about the sessions with former South Africa wicket-keeper and current coach Mark Boucher and recalled how he was asked to improve his game against the short ball.

“And pre-Gary, in the IPL when Mark Boucher kept telling you about me. He was the one guy who told me in 2008 that when I come to India 4 years from now to do commentary and I don’t see you play for India I’d be the most disappointed man in the world. He used to take me to the nets with a tennis ball racket and bowl bouncers and short balls. He told me, ‘if you wanna play international cricket, you’ll have to play the short ball, otherwise forget about it. So he had the vision, that was quite special,” added Kohli.

Kohli also spoke about the influence of former India coach Duncan Fletcher and said that he got along with him as he had a keen eye for the game.

“Then Duncan Fletcher… A keen eye for the game, got along well with him amazingly. He taught me so many things,” said Kohli.