Ravi Shastri expects Virat Kohli to bounce back strongly

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli might have had a woeful tour to England, where he managed just one fifty, but team director Ravi Shastri believes that the Indian vice-captain is too good a player to stay out of form for a long time and expects him to bounce back sooner rather than later.

"It's a great game. It's happened to some of the best players in the world. When I say the best players in the world, it's happened to the best players in the world. Where you go through a series, a slump when nothing is right. There are technical flaws that can creep in from anywhere. Then you have bowlers with experience, patience and the ability to exploit it.” Shastri said during an interaction with the media on Monday in Mumbai.

"That's what people missed on (James) Anderson. He was a real tiger on the prowl when Virat came into bat. He sensed there was a technical flaw.”

Kohli will be back

He also added that 25-year-old is an extremely hard working cricketer and expects him to be back among the runs soon.

“I know Virat. No one hurts more than him. No one has work ethics better than him. No one works harder than him. I see him bouncing back. I see him bouncing back big time.

"He'll be the better player once he comes back and scores runs. This experience will stand him in good stead,” the cricketer-turned-commentator said.

The 52-year-old pointed out that a player as great as Brian Lara had been through a similar phase in his career and just like the West Indian great, he expects the Delhi batsman to also come back strong and score runs again for India, consistently.

"It reminded you of when Brian Lara went through a little bit of a bad period. There was Glenn McGrath bowling around the wicket in a series in Australia. It was brilliant to watch. Here's one of the greatest players of all time just struggling a bit and a top-class opponent on the prowl.

"Moment he comes into bat, he has the ball in his hands, around the wicket. It happens in cricket. That's why Test cricket is great. But what you love to see is when Lara came back and was back on song, he smashed him to every corner of the ground. It happens. Let's hope Virat does the same. I'm quite positive he will," he said.

Too much cricket is being played

Shastri also said that the demanding schedule of cricketers has made it very difficult to rectify technical faults in a short period of time.

"See the problem is that the amount of cricket that is played as compared to my era or the era before that, you had time. You had time in between Test matches to correct your flaws. Here, in 40 days' time you are playing five Test matches. If there is a flaw that creeps in, it's very very difficult to iron out that flaw immediately.

"Yes it's a minor flaw which if caught early, you might correct it and play differently. Here, the problem with what Virat had was he was up against a bowler at his prime. It was relentless," he added.