Kohli played over 100 cover drives a day to master the shot, says his coach

Vadodara: Dronacharya Award recipient cricket coach Rajkumar Sharma, who has been coaching Indian skipper Virat Kohli ever since he was just nine years old, said that Kohli never shied away from trying new shots when the occasion demanded.

“Initially, Kohli never played the sweep shot. But when he went to Australia, Nathan Lyon started bowling on his legs and that’s when he felt the need to develop this shot. Even now, he doesn’t play the square cut too much and he has been working on that shot,” said Sharma who is in the city to speak with young cricketers at the Anshuman Gaekwad School of Cricket.

The kids asked him several questions related to Kohli, and Sharma was more than happy to oblige. “For cover drives, he is a class apart. Unlike other batsmen in world cricket, who use the upper hand to play a cover drive, he uses a lot of bottom hand while playing that shot. To master that shot, he worked on it by playing about 100 to 150 cover drives in a day, which shows the kind of dedication that he has towards the game,” Sharma said.

And while his fans marvel at Kohli’s sublime flicks through midwicket and square leg, Sharma had an interesting anecdote to share with the kids. “Flick was his bread and butter shot right since childhood. But I used to scold him a lot because of that shot. I didn’t want him to play the flick too much as sometimes, he would play the shot against the new ball and edge it to the slips. But he worked hard to ensure that he takes his head to the perfect position while playing the flick. He has mastered the shot now and he can connect it to perfection,” said Sharma.