Is Virat Kohli ready for the Australia series?

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00:00Pari, nice talking to you and as mentioned to you, Virat is going through a bit of difficult

00:12times, not in terms of himself, but of course, three test matches don't make a big difference

00:17in a career like Virat. I'm sure how is he mentally right now after the test series against

00:25New Zealand and if you could give me your inputs, of course, you don't need to go into

00:30too much of a specifics, but yes, of course, I'll let you talk.

00:34I mean, let's face the reality is to lose 3-0 against New Zealand in India, just from

00:41a team perspective, that obviously is going to be a bit of a blow to the morale. Virat

00:46not scoring runs and particularly getting run out in the last test, that's not nice

00:51for anybody and that doesn't leave them in a great space, but on the positive side, going

00:57to Australia, it's a very tough tour, it's a very tough opposition. Virat is someone

01:03who he plays his best cricket in the highest pressure situations. We saw that early in

01:08the year, didn't score many runs at the T20 World Cup in the lead up to the final, but

01:12when it came to the final, he stood up and he delivered. So, Australia does provide that

01:17opportunity with a tough opposition away in Australia, five match test series, so there's

01:22a lot of time to really get into the series. So, that plays into a player like Virat's

01:28hands and although he hasn't done that well recently and he didn't have a good series

01:32against New Zealand, what I can tell you is that it hasn't affected him. He still is feeling

01:38very good about himself, he's feeling very good about his game, he's feeling very confident.

01:42Virat had great preparation, he was in a good mindset, but it didn't translate into results

01:47and that's really not something to worry about. It's when someone doesn't have a good mindset

01:51and it translates into not scoring results, then there's a whole lot more work to do.

01:55But Virat's well-poised to have a very good series.

01:58How is he mentally prepared now? Did he go through some sessions now and is he ready

02:03for the challenge? And what do you expect from your perspective? Because obviously you

02:08have dealt with him for many years, so how do you think he will respond to the challenge

02:14in Australia?

02:15You know, Australia, as I said, it's in the Border Gavaskar series, it's an iconic series,

02:20it's two of the strongest teams in the world. Both teams always, it tends to bring the best

02:25out of both teams. There'll be a real fight, particularly in Australia, particularly starting

02:29in Perth with a very bouncy wicket. So, Virat has always been someone who spearheads the

02:35aggressive, the attacking approach against the Australians. He's very up for that, he's

02:39very ready for it. He is so experienced, he knows what it is to play against Australia,

02:45he knows what it is to play a Border Gavaskar trophy. He's up, he's ready. And while that

02:51doesn't guarantee success, it certainly sets up with the best possible chance of him leading

02:56certainly the batting attack going into a big series.

02:58There's so much criticism, which is just for one series, not scoring. And talking about

03:05his past, obviously, he also had a similar situation two years ago when he came back

03:09stronger in the T20 World Cup. He's gone through something very similar. Does it affect him

03:14actually? How strong is he mentally, Paddy, just to get into his mindset?

03:18I mean, I think, I'm stating the obvious here. We know that Virat is mentally one of the

03:23strongest cricketers in the game. But even the best in the world have bad patches, they

03:28have low patches. It's certainly not a low patch in terms of his mental attitude, it's

03:33not a low patch in terms of his preparation. So, I'm certainly not worried. I think, you

03:39know, the Indian fans don't need to worry. The fact that he didn't have a good series,

03:44that doesn't mean anything for the next series. In fact, if anything, one of the things that

03:50the Indian cricketers have always, since I've known them, since I've been involved nearly

03:5420 years, they play their best crickets when they're coming from behind, when they're on

03:59the back foot, when they've been wounded. They are like wounded tigers and they're probably

04:04most dangerous now going to the series, having come off, you know, that rather embarrassing

04:10and uncomfortable loss against New Zealand. They will be pitching up. Every one of them

04:14will be more hungry than they would normally be given what's just passed. So, for most

04:19people, failure leaves them with a low confidence. For the Indian cricketers, generally, failure

04:25makes them so hungry to redeem themselves.

04:28How do you think this series will pan out? Because even Australia is coming back after

04:32a series loss against Pakistan. Though it is a one-day series, it's a different ballgame,

04:36but still losing at home. And the previous time when India visited, India has won the

04:42series. So, vis-a-vis, in that context, how do you see that series panning out?

04:47I mean, it's really interesting because both teams are going into it. They're not taking

04:51confidence from recent series. So, they're both on a similar footing. You know, it's

04:56always advantage Australia when you're playing in Australia, just like it's generally advantage

05:02India when playing in India. But we're seeing more and more these upsets where teams are

05:07beating India in India. India, the last series, they beat Australia in Australia, which is

05:12a hell of an accomplishment. So, it's becoming more and more difficult to call what's going

05:16to happen. And very often, one of the things we don't see, it also boils down to how mentally

05:22fresh versus mentally tired are players. And in order to understand that, you need

05:27to go back sort of six to nine months and look at how much cricket have they played,

05:32what's gone on for them. The team that's played the most cricket that's been on the road,

05:36the longest, will tend to be at a disadvantage because they don't have their mental, emotional

05:42batteries fully charged. And one thing I can say, playing a five-match test series in Australia,

05:48you need to be arriving with your batteries, mental, emotional batteries, fully charged

05:52and you need to be finding ways to constantly top them up because it's an incredibly dueling,

05:58arduous, tough and draining series to go through.

06:01Kohli has arrived in Perth early in preparation. How much it talks about him as a professional?

06:09And you can share a little about him and the mindset that he is in.

06:13In the time that I've known Virat, which is since about 2009 and worked with him very

06:19closely and personally in the last good few years, I have never worked with a cricketer

06:25who is more professional, who is more diligent in their preparation, someone who goes more

06:32of an extra mile than what Virat does. The team practices hard, Virat always does more.

06:38The team trains hard in the gym, Virat always does more. The team has dietary advice, Virat

06:43always goes and does more. So whatever he does, he does what the most professional cricketer

06:49in India and probably in the world does. And he always looks to see in every aspect of his game,

06:54where can I do even more so I can take the confidence going into the series, knowing

06:59I am more prepared than any other player going into it. And Virat going early again,

07:04it's just bears testimony to the professionalism. And even though he's, you know, deep into his

07:09career, he certainly hasn't backed off on any of that.

07:11Nice talking to you, Pani. Thanks for your time. Really appreciate it.

07:14Awesome.

07:15Everybody must take care.

07:16Yeah.

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