Our nets were finished and still, he was there batting: Rashid Khan on Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli will be leading Team India’s charge alongside KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma in the forthcoming Asia Cup and he was seen dispersing the bowlers to the ropes in a practice session, upholding the kind of reckoning reputation that he comes to the fray with.

Former Afghanistan skipper, Rashid Khan opened up on seeing Virat deliver admirably in the nets ahead of RCB’s game with the Gujarat Titans. Rashid was heard saying that Kohli continued with his practice for a couple of hours more even when the rest of the teammates were done with their training sessions.

Talking to Sawera Pasha ahead of the Asia Cup, Rashid recalled, “During the IPL, we had a match the next day against RCB. In the nets, I was just counting the time Virat was out there. To be honest, he batted for two and a half hours. Main aisa hairan hua (I was so shocked). Our nets were finished and still, he was there batting. The next day he scored around 70 against us. His mindset is very positive.”

The following day witnessed Kohli bagging his highest score in the latest edition of the tournament as he bashed 73 runs from 54 deliveries, guiding Royal Challengers Bangalore to an easy 8-wicket win over the eventual champions, Gujarat Titans.

Kohli’s recent lean patch, however, has sparked a spot of bother for the former Indian captain. However, Rashid has to believe otherwise. He was absolutely captivated by the way in which Virat has been stitching together the incredible hard yards.

Talking about the wide array of strokes that Virat comes to any fray with, despite his lean run in the past few games, Rashid said, “Ab wo khelta hai toh aise shots khelta hai ki aap bologe ki bilkul out of form nahi hai. Main toh yahi bolunga that he is not out-of-form. (When he bats, he plays such wonderful shots that to me, he doesn't appear to be out-of-form at all). The expectations are much more. People want him to score a hundred every second game. If you look at his Test match innings, he has got through the tough time, batted well, then somehow he has gotten out for 50 or 60 or 70. If there was any other normal batter then everyone would have said that he is in form but with Virat, the expectations are such that they only want centuries.”

Virat Kohli has always been a believer in his own capabilities and extending that belief in himself, he would be leading the Indian charge with the willow. Rashid talked about his conversation with Kohli and concluded by saying, “Jitna meri usse baat hui hai. Uske mind mein kabhi aya nahi ki log kya kahenge ya unki expectations kya hai. (Whenever I have had a word with him he has made it clear that people's expectations don't really bother him). The way that he prepares, I think it is an example for all of us. We tend to get motivated and put in more effort after watching him practice. A certain time comes in your career when whatever you try, doesn't work. But we as fans, want him to score big runs and I'm sure the hundreds will also come.”