NEW DELHI: As Virat Kohli brought up his 49th ODI century on Sunday evening, nostalgia engulfed his childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma. And it was such an overwhleming moment for Sharma, that he and his family were struggling to decide how they should celebrate the day. “For Virat to be at par with a legend like Sachin Tendulkar is a blessing for me,” Rajkumar told TOI on Sunday evening.
“The meeting with a nine-year-old boy flashed in front of my eyes. In just a few days, I could make out he had a gift from god. But the entire credit must go to him for realizing that he needed to work harder than most to honour that gift. It was so fulfilling to see his work ethic evolve through this journey,” a proud coach couldn’t stop gushing.
It was always apparent to him that Virat was had international potential. But Rajkumar picked out the tour of Australia in 2011-12 and the subsequent Asia Cup in Bangladesh as junctures where he realized his ward was meant to be in a different league. “Virat had already won a World Cup and scored 6-7 centuries. The hundred in the Adelaide Test after a rough start to the tour followed by the magical ton in an improbable chase against Sri Lanka in Hobart and then the 183 against Pakistan-that’s when I realized this boy will finish as one of the greatest Indian cricketers.”
For all the success that he has had, Virat has never stopped coming back to his coach for honest dissection of his cricket. “He has mellowed down a lot with age. We discuss his cricket but we also talk about life values now. But his aggression is intact. I never tried to curb that,” he claimed.
2014 slump and the wait for 71st ton
For Rajkumar, Virat’s toughest challenge was recovering from the horrendous tour of England in 2014. The lull before his 71st international century is incomparable to what he went through in 2014. “2014 was a real challenge. He was young and James Anderson had exposed him. The months that he spent after that tour were very tough. That period involved a lot of learning-technical, mental and general awareness of his game. He wanted to turn it around quickly,” Rajkumar recalled.
“In comparison, the phase from 2020 to 2022 was nothing. It was all about not being able to convert starts. He was batting well all through but he had set such high standards with his conversion rate that it seemed like he was going through serious loss of form. Over the last one year, he is back to what he was doing till 2020.”
Rajkumar maintains that Virat understood very little about the significance of the World Cup win in 2011. “He was barely 22. Now, he understands that he is a statesman in this team.”
“The meeting with a nine-year-old boy flashed in front of my eyes. In just a few days, I could make out he had a gift from god. But the entire credit must go to him for realizing that he needed to work harder than most to honour that gift. It was so fulfilling to see his work ethic evolve through this journey,” a proud coach couldn’t stop gushing.
It was always apparent to him that Virat was had international potential. But Rajkumar picked out the tour of Australia in 2011-12 and the subsequent Asia Cup in Bangladesh as junctures where he realized his ward was meant to be in a different league. “Virat had already won a World Cup and scored 6-7 centuries. The hundred in the Adelaide Test after a rough start to the tour followed by the magical ton in an improbable chase against Sri Lanka in Hobart and then the 183 against Pakistan-that’s when I realized this boy will finish as one of the greatest Indian cricketers.”
For all the success that he has had, Virat has never stopped coming back to his coach for honest dissection of his cricket. “He has mellowed down a lot with age. We discuss his cricket but we also talk about life values now. But his aggression is intact. I never tried to curb that,” he claimed.
2014 slump and the wait for 71st ton
For Rajkumar, Virat’s toughest challenge was recovering from the horrendous tour of England in 2014. The lull before his 71st international century is incomparable to what he went through in 2014. “2014 was a real challenge. He was young and James Anderson had exposed him. The months that he spent after that tour were very tough. That period involved a lot of learning-technical, mental and general awareness of his game. He wanted to turn it around quickly,” Rajkumar recalled.
“In comparison, the phase from 2020 to 2022 was nothing. It was all about not being able to convert starts. He was batting well all through but he had set such high standards with his conversion rate that it seemed like he was going through serious loss of form. Over the last one year, he is back to what he was doing till 2020.”
Rajkumar maintains that Virat understood very little about the significance of the World Cup win in 2011. “He was barely 22. Now, he understands that he is a statesman in this team.”