Why is Virat Kohli picking Sanjay Bangar’s brains on the down low?

The curiosity value over Virat Kohli making a comeback to Ranji Trophy after 12 years has been gaining in momentum. The return of Rohit Sharma to domestic cricket did not yield good returns a few days back and Kohli is now reported to have gone back to basics with a special nets session with someone he trusts – former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar.

 A photo on social media, which has gone viral since Sunday, shows the former India captain in a chat at the nets with Bangar armed for a throwdown session – ostensibly at a private venue developed by the former India allrounder outside the city limits of Mumbai. Kohli, who pulled out of Delhi’s previous outing because of a ‘neck sprain,’ is now scheduled to play his home team’s last Ranji league game at the Kotla from 30 January (Thursday).

 The choice to work with Bangar, a low profile personality who had been privy to Kohli’s best phase in international cricket from 2014 to 2019, seems to have been dictated by the star’s comfort levels with the former international. Kohli had scored the bulk of his 80 international hundreds during that period and since the end of Bangar’s tenure, he has made only two Test centuries in the last five years.

Bangar, now a TV pundit and former coach at Virat’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), moved on from the national team after the 2019 ODI World Cup when Vikram Rathour was roped in as the batting coach. There could be enough questions asked whether it would have made more sense for Kohli to pick the brains of someone like Sachin Tendulkar – which had yielded him good results after a disastrous tour of England in 2014 – or even Sunil Gavaskar, both being Mumbai residents.

Confirming that the two had collaborated with an eye towards the coming season, sources in the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) said: ‘’Virat has a healthy respect for Bangar’s tactical acumen and a great comfort level after sharing the same dressing room for close to 10 years. The other idea is to, of course, keep the association away from the prying eyes of the media as much as possible.’’  

 A PTI report says Bangar was seen feeding Kohli with throwdown from 16 yards with focus on playing the rising deliveries on the backfoot. A portable cement slab (with attached wheels) was placed at the back-of-length (mid-pitch between 8-10m length) to feed the batter with back of length deliveries that rise steeply.

 The idea for such a training session, no prizes for guessing, is to make Kohli play more of the side shots square of the wicket as he has been a a compulsive frontfoot player with a propensity to play the cover drive and over the years.

White ball assignments

 The upcoming assignments for the master batter is in white ball cricket with the three-match ODI series against England, ICC Champions Trophy and IPL – to be followed by the demanding five-Test away series in England. However, there is no gainsaying that Kohli, who managed only 190 runs in nine innings in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is seriously concerned with his technical issues against deliveries on and outside the off-stump channel with a similar pattern of dismissals. A quiet grind at the nets ahead of the red ball fixture in Ranji as per the BCCI diktat, will certainly be of help.

 Meanwhile, the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) officials have made arrangements at the Kotla so that at least 10,000 fans can watch the match with two stands being opened for the general public. Entry will be free.