[WATCH] Virat Kohli gives a pep talk to Indian players as they prepare for practice game against Leicestershire

Former Indian captain and senior batter Virat Kohli was seen giving a pep talk to members of the team as they prepared for the four-day practice match against Leicestershire.

The Indian team will take on the county in a warm-up match at Grace Road in Leicester from June 24 to June 27. India will hope to find some rhythm in the game ahead of the rescheduled Test against England, which will begin at Edgbaston in Birmingham on July 1.

On Tuesday (June 21), the official Twitter handle of the Leicestershire County Cricket Club shared a video of Kohli giving a passionate talk to the players. The clip was shared with the caption:

“Game mode = 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 💪 @imVkohli gives a 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 team talk ahead of a busy day of preparations before @BCCI's Tour Match 🆚 @leicsccc.”

Leicestershire’s Twitter handle also shared another video in which skipper Rohit Sharma and Kohli are seen taking part in a catching practice session. The clip was shared with the caption:

“⛔️𝗡𝗢 𝗗𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗗 𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗦 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘⛔️ @imVkohli & @ImRo45 = Safe hands 👐.”

Both senior Indian batters are struggling for form heading into the England series. Neither player had an impressive run in IPL 2022. Speaking of their Test form, Rohit scored 90 runs at an average of 30 in the two-match series against Sri Lanka at home, while Kohli scored 81 runs at an average of 27.

Earlier in the day, the BCCI shared pictures of head coach Rahul Dravid joining the Indian camp in Leicester. Dravid, keeper-batter Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer arrived in the UK following the conclusion of the five-match T20I series against South Africa in Bengaluru on Sunday (June 19).

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Ashish Nehra on why Kohli and Rohit are likely to play selective cricket going forward

Former India pacer Ashish Nehra recently made an interesting observation about Kohli and Rohit, claiming that all-format players like them will be seen in selective matches in times to come.

During a discussion on Cricbuzz, he opined:

“We are already seeing less and less of these all-format players. Even in India, how many players are there right now who play all three formats? And you named two: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma. Both are resting (for South Africa T20Is). And because of that so many players are getting an opportunity. But you will see this thing in the coming times.”

Apart from Rohit and Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were also rested for the T20Is against South Africa. With KL Rahul picking up a groin injury, Rishabh Pant ended up leading India against the Proteas.