Virat Kohli is at his best when he is riled up: Gautam Gambhir

Indian captain Virat Kohli is enduring a bit of a rough patch in the ongoing tour of New Zealand. The Indian superstar has managed to cross a 50+ score just once in nine innings that he has played across four T20Is, three ODIs and a couple of innings of the first Test in Wellington.

After the unprecedented failure in the ODI series, everyone was looking forward to seeing Virat bounce back in the first Test. But that didn’t turn out to be the case as he chased a wide delivery outside the off-stump in the first before getting sucked into a pull shot in the second innings.

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has advised Virat to channelize his competitive juices to shrug off his lean patch. Gambhir, who is a feisty character himself, gave an example of how he did the same when his approach was questioned after he’d been dismissed for a duck in the first innings of the 2007-08 Ranji final against Uttar Pradesh.

“I was out for zero in the first innings. I had to cop a lot of criticism about my technique and temperament. I came into this game reasonably focused, as winning the Ranji Trophy was one of my childhood dreams. But I was not as charged up, besides I had a good number of friends in the UP team which left my intensity sub-par. This criticism, led by one of the national selectors, left me extremely angry. It now seems I needed that anger as till then I was not really ‘in’ that contest,” Gautam Gambhir wrote in his column in the Times of India.

Gautam Gambhir feels that Virat Kohli is in a similar sort of situation

Referring to Virat’s statement at the start of the tour when he was asked whether the series will be about revenge for his side’s defeat to New Zealand in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup, to which Kohli replied that Kiwis are too nice a people to even think of revenge; something Gambhir feels doesn’t really work with Virat, who- as an emotionally charged person- thrives when he is spurred up.

“From a distance, it seems Virat Kohli is in a similar situation. He was asked before the start of this tour if saw it as a revenge series after losing to them in the 2019 World Cup semifinal. At the time Kohli replied, ‘Even if you want to think of revenge these guys are so nice that you can’t get into that zone.’ I am not sure if this part of Virat Kohli really works for him,” the 38-year-old wrote.

Gambhir added, “He (Kohli) is at his best when he is riled up when he has a contest. Revenge may be an exaggerated thought but I am not sure of “nice guys” emotion either. I think Kohli is wired up to be that emotionally charged sportsperson who can play a cover drive with the calmness of a sage and then lead his troops like an animated cheerleader” he said.

India should play five bowlers in Christchurch

India was handed a ten-wicket shellacking in Wellington and Gambhir feels that Kohli should go with Jadeja in place of Vihari and play five bowlers.

“I think Kohli should play five bowlers. He should play Ravindra Jadeja in place of Hanuma Vihari whether the wicket is flat or a green top,” he added.