The Indian fielding coach Dilip praises Virat following his outstanding performance in his 500th international appearance and went on to register his 76th century.
Fielding coach Dilip praises Virat Kohli
Indian Fielding coach Dilip praises former captain Virat Kohli’s fitness after showing extraordinary performance in the 2nd test of the West Indies tour where he scored 121 runs on day 2 at Queen’s Park Oval.
Virat Kohli scored his first overseas century since 2018 for India. Kohli resumed his 87 runs on day two and scored 121 runs, recording him to become the first player to score a century on his 500th appearance.
Dilip said that Kohli continues to set higher standards when it comes to fielding and fitness, and the juniors are inspired and get benefits from his example.
“He walks the talk when it comes to fitness,” Dilip in a post-match press conference.
“It mainly comes down to his discipline and how he takes care of himself. It has been 10 years and he is the most attacking fielder. It rubs off well on the youngsters. Everybody looks up to him – not just our team, but everybody in the world – A person like him, running around and attacking the ball so well,” he added.
“A good part of a player is how consistently he scores. He has continued his form from the last match into this,” Dilip said.
“He did not start off with flamboyant drives right away. He had to grind as he did in the first game. His application was fantastic, at the same time his temperament on that wicket…there were spells where the West Indies bowlers came good and he respected them. When he had to capitalise, he did that. Overall, the way he paced his innings was fantastic,” Dilip said.
Dilip is optimistic that the pitch will be a little more forgiving so that Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja can work their magic with the ball and spells. He is happy as they demonstrated their batting abilities, which has further improved the team’s spirit and strength.
“If you look at Ashwin and Jadeja, everybody around the world knows them for their bowling performances. But if you see of late, especially Jadeja, he has improved his batting tremendously that he is batting at No. 6 now,” Dilip said.
“That’s a fantastic sign for India because it gives a great combination. Ashwin always has that temperament and the application to score runs. Having these two together not just gives us an advantage with the bowling, but also with the batting,” India’s batting coach added.
Virat on his 500th international appearance
After Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane was sent out on single digit figure Jadeja and Virat had the stance on the ground until the end of the day. They made a total score of 106 runs on their partnership and increased India’s total to 288 losing 4 wickets at the end of the day.
On the 1st day, Virat Kohli had scored 87 runs and was 13 runs away from his century. During the second day of India’s innings, Virat Kohli scored his 76th international century by smashing a boundary off Gabriel’s delivery bowled outside off-stump.
He surpassed cricket legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and Jacques Kallis on record for most centuries after 500 international matches.
The 2nd Test of the WI tour 2023 holds many stats which contains India’s 100 Test match against West Indies and Virat’s 500th international match. By this hundred, Virat Kohli becomes the first player in history to score a century in his 500th international appearance.
