Virat Kohli should play his natural game – Kris Srikkanth’s advice to India’s star batter

Team India had a successful outing against Afghanistan in the recently concluded T20I that saw two of their senior-most players make the ripples for all the right reasons. Rohit Sharma got out for a couple of golden ducks in the first two games but eventually walked away with the Player of the Match award with a sensational century and some mind-boggling hard-hitting in the Super Over of the final match.

Virat Kohli wasn’t a part of the first encounter due to personal reasons but came back with a bang in the second contest where he hammered 29 runs from 16 balls, clubbing five fours in the innings. 

Post the series, former Indian cricketer, Kris Srikkanth, had some important advice for Virat and Rohit. He expressed his glee at the way the two senior batters fared in the series and was also quick to underline why players like Virat shouldn’t be urged to deviate from his own style of batting.

Talking on his Youtube channel, Srikkanth said, “Each player has his own game. Everybody should first follow their game. If you tell Yashasvi Jaiswal to take his time and play, it's not right. Players like him and 'Cheeka', you can't tell them to take their time. Rohit Sharma is capable of doing it. Virat Kohli should play his natural game.”

He further added, “He likes taking his time. He is not worried about hitting sixes. He is capable of accelerating in the end, hitting sixes in the end. We saw the Pakistan game in Melbourne, the way he built it up and won it for us.”

Shedding some light on what Virat’s approach should be, Srikkanth said, “So, like you said, the strike rate and all that should be on the back of the mind. If you run after it desperately, it won't work. If you started swinging from the word go... this is international cricket, you will be lucky to connect once or twice, not always.”

He concluded by saying, “Virat Kohli should follow his principles of the game. How has he succeeded in international cricket? He has followed his style and done it. I think everybody should stick to their strengths.”