Kohli’s flexible approach set him apart: Bangar

Virat Kohli’s flexible approach to batting and relentless pursuit of excellence enabled the Indian captain to script a spectacular turnaround and score his maiden hundred on English soil, said assistant coach Sanjay Bangar. Kohli made a memorable 149.

The defining knock exorcised the ghosts of 2014 tour of England where Kohli could only muster 134 runs in 10 innings at an average of 13.4. “I would say that this innings showed different facets of Virat’s batting. The main thing is that Virat is flexible about his batting approach. Most of the batters are not flexible when it comes to changing technique or approach. But Virat in this respect is different,” said Bangar after stumps on day two.

“He showed terrific discipline I felt. At no instance did he reach out for the ball, and probably couple of our other batsmen reached out, which caused their downfall. But that is something, which we’ve been speaking of, practicing quite a lot. And on days, these things come off and on certain days those things don’t come out as a batter.”

Kohli’s drive to improve with every innings sets him apart, said Bangar. “Nowadays we see video analysis of each and every player. Opposition can easily put finger on what lacunae a particular player has. So

“Virat showed terrific discipline I felt. At no instance did he reach out for the ball, and probably couple of our other batsmen reached out, which caused their downfall. But that is something, which we’ve been speaking of, practicing quite a lot”

you have to know your shortcomings, keep working on it and stay a step ahead. Virat’s pursuit is for excellence and he keeps working on his craft. So this knock gives immense satisfaction to him,” the former India all-rounder said.

The visitors were reduced to 59-3, then 100-5 and later 169-7. It left Kohli to fight back alone, but the skipper didn’t disappoint and added 91 runs in the company of Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav.

The coach credited the English bowling whilst defending some shot selection, particularly from Hardik Pandya. “Once we got a good start, we should’ve capitalised on it. But the openers handled the new ball really well, and the angles that were created by Sam Curran - credit to him that he could create those angles.

“But if you see the difference between both sides, England is used to playing in these conditions and we don’t really play in these conditions too often, yet the gap is a mere 18 runs. Definitely the game is really well placed.”