Asia Cup 2022: "Doubts force you to make mistakes in the middle" - Sanjay Bangar lauds Virat Kohli's comeback

Sanjay Bangar has lauded Virat Kohli for overcoming subconscious doubts and making an excellent comeback to run-scoring ways at Asia Cup 2022.

Kohli is the top run-getter of the continental tournament so far. His 276 runs in five innings came at an outstanding average of 92.00 and an impressive strike rate of 147.59.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Bangar was asked whether everything had fallen into place for Kohli ahead of the T20 World Cup. He responded:

"The biggest thing for me is that Virat Kohli would have been relieved subconsciously because when you are unable to perform at that level, then doubts start creeping into your mind and those doubts force you to make mistakes in the middle."

Bangar expressed optimism about the modern batting great performing even better going forward. The former India batting coach reasoned:

"The coming phase for Virat Kohli will be better because the one who was sitting on his shoulders, who was putting the doubts in his mind, all those doubts would have been cleared."

Kohli scored his maiden T20I century in India's final Asia Cup game against Afghanistan. The unbeaten 122-run knock, which came off 61 deliveries, is also the highest individual score by an Indian player in the shortest format in international cricket.

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"The standard and expectations had gone so high" - Sanjay Bangar on Virat Kohli's century drought

Virat Kohli scored an international century after almost three years.

While observing that Kohli made meaningful contributions during his century drought, Bangar pointed out that India's batting mainstay was not living up to the lofty standards set by him. He pointed out:

"The period that was going on for the last two to two-and-a-half years where he was not crossing the landmark, he made quite a few good contributions for the team during that period, but the standard and expectations had gone so high."

Bangar cited the examples of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar to highlight that all great players have endured lean phases in their careers. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach said:

"Every big player, whether you talk about Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar, their careers also had such phases where they did not score centuries but they were contributing."

Kohli scored 81 runs at a lowly average of 20.25 in the four T20I innings he played this year before the Asia Cup and did not enjoy great success in the other formats as well. The 122-run knock against Afghanistan was his first international century since the pink-ball Test against Bangladesh in November 2019.