ABU DHABI: Star Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan feels the reason behind Virat Kohli’s batting success is that the Indian skipper never deviates from his process, irrespective of the quality of delivery bowled at him.
The leg-spinner feels Kohli’s strong suit is that he has faith in his batting abilities and is not compelled into playing any shots he is not confident of, giving due respect to the good balls.
“If there is any other batsman, he will come under pressure if you bowl well to him. He will play a shot which is not his strength, like a sweep, a slog sweep or any other different stroke,” Rashid said on the Youtube show ‘Cricast’
“[But] Virat will follow his own process. He goes with his mind. He has his own style and he goes with that. He doesn’t do anything different. I think that is why he is very successful. He has a process.
“He will respect good balls. He will punish loose balls. He has great self-belief. Some batsmen don’t have self-belief. That is why they struggle. He believes in his own strength,” Rashid added.
Rashid, who is a vital cog in the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack in the Indian Premier League, is eager to play under the leadership of former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
“I have dream that I play under MS Dhoni. Because the experience of playing with him, under him is very important. For a bowler, the role of a wicketkeeper is very important and I don’t think there is anyone better than him to explain you things.”
Rashid also recalled the advice the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman gave him recently.
“Every time after our matches, the discussions that I had with him have helped me.
—PTI

Press Trust of India