Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar has backed Virat Kohli to bounce back strongly after his disappointing return to international cricket in the first ODI against Australia in Perth. Kohli’s comeback to the Indian side after a four-month break ended abruptly, as he was dismissed for an eight-ball duck by Mitchell Starc, leaving fans stunned.
Despite the setback, Nayar expressed firm belief that Kohli’s trademark determination and mental resilience would help him regain form soon, without making drastic technical changes.
Nayar Backs Kohli’s Mental Strength
Reflecting on the dismissal, Nayar said that the 36-year-old’s natural approach and mindset have always been his greatest assets. Kohli fell to an offside trap, edging a delivery angled away from him, which was brilliantly caught by Cooper Connolly at point.
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 — 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝑵𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔. “𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑯𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒐𝒎.”
Nayar added that Kohli would focus more on his mental space than on mechanical adjustments. “He won’t overthink technique. He’ll trust his process and back himself to bounce back,” he said.
Key to India’s Comeback in Adelaide
Looking ahead to the second ODI in Adelaide on October 23, Nayar emphasized that a solid start from Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill could make life easier for Kohli in the middle order, especially against Australia’s lethal new-ball pair of Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
“𝑰𝒇 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝑵𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅. “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 70 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 10 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒔.”
Nayar also noted that the Australian bowlers would continue to target Kohli’s off-stump channel. Still, the key lies in execution and handling pressure — something the veteran has mastered throughout his career.
India will be hoping for a strong response in Adelaide after the Perth defeat, with Kohli once again at the heart of their batting revival plans.
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