Virat Kohli's former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate AB de Villiers has shared a piece of advice for the Indian star after his recent struggles in the just-concluded Border-Gavaskar series.
Kohli made 190 runs in nine innings in the five-match series and apart from his 100 and 36, he had only 54 runs in the other seven innings. Kohli's dismissals were the talk of the town as he was dismissed all eight times on deliveries outside the off stump. All his edges flew to the slip cordon or were taken by the wicketkeeper.
De Villiers has advised Kohli to reset his mind and avoid the on-field battles. "I think the thing is to reset your mind every time. Virat loves the fight, but when you're not in the form of your life, it's best to get rid of those things. As a batter, it is to reset every single and understand every ball is an event and just forget about the bowler," de Villiers said in a video he posted on X.
"I think sometimes Virat forgets about that because of his fighting spirit and the nature of the man wanting to be involved and show the whole of India he is there to fight for them," the South African batting legend added.
"The skill, experience and greatness of the guy (Kohli) are not an issue. It’s sometimes about the refocus after every single ball. Maybe sometimes he gets involved too much," he added.
Kohli has been known for his on-field aggression. He had a shoulder barge with Australian youngster Sam Konstas in the Boxing Day Test on the latter's debut. De Villiers feels that the battles can be Kohli's strengths as well as weaknesses.
"I think with Virat, he gets involved with the battle on the field. That's one of his biggest strengths and it can also be a weakness. During this series, we saw him have individual battles with some of the players, the crowd got under his skin," De Villiers said.
"Every single batter in the world has some sort of weakness or some dismissals that keep coming up. Of course, Virat can overcome his problem and come back to form.
"It takes a lot of character, a lot of hunger, lot of hours in the nets. I think the thing is to reset your mind, every time," the South African said for Kohli.
