'Aise hi kohli viraaaat nhi bana' - Fans in awe as R Sridhar opens up on incident from 2018 South Africa tour involving Virat Kohli

'Aise hi kohli viraaaat nhi bana' - Fans in awe as R Sridhar opens up on incident from 2018 South Africa tour involving Virat Kohli (Image Source: Twitter)

The Indian team will take on New Zealand in the final T20I on February 1, Wednesday and one could understand that they are faring out decently well in the absence of veterans like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Led by Hardik Pandya, the Men in Blue are giving it their all to win the series, with it being tied 1-1. 

R Sridhar, the former team India fielding coach, revealed some shocking incidents in his autobiography, ‘COACHING BEYOND - My Days with the Indian Cricket Team’ and one of them was about Rishabh Pant when the coach revealed that the southpaw drove him nuts for not obliging to the suggestions and being reluctant on his opinions. 

Eventually, Sridhar opened up about Virat Kohli and said that the right-handed batter was in his beast mode during the South Africa tour in 2018. It was during this tour, Kohli was at his peak in the ODIs when he scored three centuries in the 6-match series and led the Indian team to glory although he lost the Tests but set the tone for a glorious future by winning the third Test. 

Virat Kohli saw no nobody was batting: R Sridhar

Sridhar revealed in his autobiography that the Indian team were given a practice pitch and it was Kohli alone who batted on the surface while the rest refused to take it on in the nets. Notably, Kohli was seen as a batter with high intensity and tenacity during the tour, as the right-handed batter grew in stature during that period. 

“In SA 2018, Practice pitches was horrible. Virat Kohli saw that nobody was batting on pitch because could be dangerous. He quickly padded up, called Sanjay, Raghu &myself & said 'I want it to be dangerous, I want to bat on this wicket & bowl fastest deliveries,” Sridhar wrote in his autobiography ‘COACHING BEYOND - My days with the Indian Cricket Team’. 

Here’s how fans have reacted to R Sridhar’s revelation about Virat Kohli’s intensity during the South Africa tour in 2018: 

King kohli for a reason, dream for 😂sky

— Daksh Gill(fan account) (@GillDakshveer) February 1, 2023

You are late John's

— Ashraful Islam (@imAshraf_Vk) February 1, 2023

Aise hi kohli viraaaat nhi bana❤️🌚

— Abhijeet singh (@Abhijee20022889) February 1, 2023

That is why Kohli > Rohit

— ︎Ⓗ︎EⒶ𝙙ҽ尺 (@Head9_) February 1, 2023

That's one of those instances which make you realise that Kohli is the biggest blessing for Test cricket.

— 𝘜𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 (@Unknownaka404) February 1, 2023

Virat is best because he is brave enough to fight big battles. He leads from front. He was warrior inside & thats why he could transformed average Indian test team to worldbetter. A captain a leader and a warrior. Virat kohli for you 👏❤

— Shakti Man 💥 (@IamShaktiMann) February 1, 2023

Virat Kohli = Master class batsman. Loves playing fast bowlers. Only sometimes fail against spin. When he is in form it is difficult to get him out of ground. Excellent fielder as well

— Sports.world (@moiz_sports) February 1, 2023

Didn't knew you were with Indian team back than 😳 @en_kirikiri_pa

— Chandru Stan | Ǝ (@Extra_covers17) February 1, 2023