Virat Kohli has set a high benchmark for fielders - R Sridhar

"Catches win matches." A popular axiom that coaches incorporate in a kid right at the beginning of his cricket career. Fielding is an essential component of the modern-day game, given that cricket is a game of inches. 

Besides being considered the best batsman, Virat Kohli has significantly raised fitness standards. Since Kohli took over the reins, fitness has become the highest priority on the team management checklist. Inevitably, the characteristics of the skipper also stimulated his teammates to fabricate the same intensity on the field. In an exclusive chat with Fan Code, Indian fielding coach R Sridhar unveiled some interesting fitness anecdotes about Virat Kohli. 

Sridhar recounts a Test match incident in 2017, when Virat Kohli rode to save the boundary, as if his life banked heavily on the ball.

“We were playing the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka at the Feroz Shah Kotla, our boy was getting married in a couple of weeks, he was going to go off. It was getting into a draw and Chandimal was batting on 140 or 150, Ash was bowling, Chandimal hit one towards midwicket. It was in the mandatory overs, the match was going to end and he got a 248 in that match if I am not mistaken. And he runs as if his life depended on that ball, picks that ball and does an acrobatic throw, ” Sridhar was quoted as saying. 

Fitness and fielding - the Indian team has laid great emphasis on the two important facets of the game. After its inception as a compulsory passing test, the yo-yo test has clearly shown evidence of optimized fitness levels among Indian players in recent times. Sridhar added that a slow-moving fielder is uncompromisable for Virat Kohli. 

“For Virat, it’s a non-negotiable. A slow mover on the field or someone, not giving his 100% on the field, that’s it, non-negotiable with him. And that kind of intensity what he produces, and for a youngster, if he just watches it, it should spur him on. He has made it mandatory for every fielder, not now, I am talking about 2015 which was his first series as the full-time captain in Sri Lanka, the first thing he said was – no optional sessions in fielding,” he said. 

Sridhar admits that it's a dream come true for any fielding coach, when the skipper sets exacting standards and high tempo for his teammates to obey during the fielding sessions. 

“You have a captain, who comes out to fielding practice till the time he is bleeding,  I have seen that. There have been times where I would tell him – Virat enough. I have to save Virat from Virat sometimes. You have a captain like that, for me, it’s a dream come true.”