Kohli credits throwdown specialist for India’s improvement against fast bowling.

One of the standout features of the Virat Kohli-led Indian team in the recent past has been the ability to handle fast bowling – something which was a concern for Indian teams of the 90s and early 2000s.

Kohli’s fascination with the fast bowling, his trust in the skill has rubbed onto Indian batsmen who now are way more confident against pacers than what they were before. The results are for everybody to see and the world has taken a note. In the last five years or so there has been a tectonic shift in how and what foreign media writes about Indian batsmen’s ability against pacers when the team reaches their shores.

But the Indian captain is not the one to take credit for all things good with the team. The Royal Challengers skipper has credited throwdown specialist D Raghavendra for the improvement. According to Kohli, Raghavendra’s ability to notch up some serious pace – in excess of 150-155 kmph – with the sidearm - an equipment designed to hold and hurl the ball - has helped the team grow in confidence against the pacers.

“I believe the improvement this team has shown while playing fast bowling since 2013 has been because of Raghu,” Kohli told Bangladesh batsman Tamim Iqbal during Instagram live.

Raghavendra has been with the team for years now and Kohli feels that the practice the team puts in the nets against the throwdown specialist makes the job easier during the match.

“He has good concepts about footwork, bat movement of players. He has improved his skills so much that from sidearm he easily hurls the balls at 155 kmph. After playing Raghu in nets, when you go into the match, you feel there is a lot of time.”