In cricket, the true test of a batter's character has always been the moving ball in England. Right now, our young Indian side is finding this out the hard way. The team has endured a highly disappointing white-ball run on this tour, starting with a 0-2 T20I series loss in Ireland, followed by a heavy 0-3 deficit against England in the ongoing five-match T20I series.
The focus from the dead rubber last T20, now shifts to the 50-over format, with a three-match ODI series kicking off on July 14 in Birmingham. The experienced duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are set to return to the squad, this time under the fresh captaincy of Shubman Gill. Kohli is already putting in the hard yards; recent reports confirmed he has been training intensely with his trusted
former mentor, Sanjay Bangar, in Mumbai ahead of his comeback.
This reunion brings back memories of how Kohli originally turned his fortunes around on English soil. Speaking recently on Doordarshan's The Great Indian Cricket Show, Bangar shared a fascinating tale of Kohli's dedication. It is a story every young batter struggling in England today should read.
Back in 2014, Kohli had a nightmare tour of England. The critics were out in numbers. But rather than complaining about the conditions, Kohli went back to the training ground. Bangar revealed the extreme lengths Kohli went to ahead of the 2017-18 tour to prove himself to the critics.
"When you go to England, the entire game comes down to two things: how well you counter the swing, and how late you can play the ball," Bangar explained on the broadcast. "Because Virat Kohli did not have a great run during the 2014 tour, he put in an immense amount of work during 2017-18 to fix that".
The support staff in Mumbai went to extraordinary stretch to recreate the exact English playing conditions. Bangar recalled the gruelling early morning routines. "Our routine was brutal; we would hit a Mumbai ground by 6:00 or 6:30 in the morning just to chase the early dew. We wanted to start as early as possible so we could replicate English conditions, utilising the heavy morning atmosphere and the natural moisture on an uncovered pitch," he disclosed.
But what if the bright Mumbai sun came out and dried the pitch? The coaching staff had a desperate solution ready.
"If the sun came out and the moisture on the wicket started dropping, we would literally pour extra water onto the surface just to keep the ball snaking around," Bangar added.
The results were there for everyone to see. Kohli arrived in England in 2018 and piled on the runs, completely neutralising English bowling attacks and effectively burying the past of 2014. Bangar believes these painstaking simulations were the bedrock of that success.
