Kohli struggled in English conditions in the summer (©GettyImages). Virat Kohli has decided to turn to India's most famous cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, for help in resurrecting his form after a poor tour of England.
In 10 Test Innings Kohli scored just 134 runs and hit only one half-century during the tour. His pre-tour hype was not realised and he was in fact regarded as a walking wicket whenever he came to the crease. A huge reversal for a player who is viewed as a superstar in his own country.
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Rapid elevation
Rumours in India are that Kohli is with Tendulkar at the Indoor Facility of Mumbai’s Cricket Association receiving some expert tutelage.
Prior to the England tour Kohli was regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world, albeit during a period in which Test cricket is suffering from a dearth of truly world-class batsmen. There are no longer any of the greats gracing world cricket, with Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, having all recently retired.
Perhaps Kohli has been prematurely elevated to superstar status? After-all his overall Test average is now under 40, hardly an average worthy of greatness status.
However his ODI performances, prior to his tour of England, have been fantastic. He
became the number one ranked ODI batsmen last November and was named player of the tournament during the recent T20 tournament in Bangladesh.
He is more than just a cricket star back home in India, he is an icon, so his form will have been a surprise to many of his followers and probably been a shock to him just as much as anyone else. Perhaps he believed his own hype a little too much.
Issues to work on
In England, Kohli struggled against the swinging ball and was constantly exposed outside off-stump and invariably was out caught in the slip cordon. To be regarded as a true great Kohli will need to master all countries and conditions, not just in the safe haven of India.
Now he has turned to Tendulkar for help, and there is nobody better from whom to seek advice. Tendulkar is a true legend of the game and will have great knowledge and experience which Kohli can tap into.
Now Kohli will be looking to regain his form before the upcoming Test series against Australia. He will find the four Test matches against a rejuvenated Australian side very tough as he is bound to be bombarded by pace, which will be another test to his technique.
He will still be one of the main players at next year's 50-over World Cup so I fully expect him to stand out in the tournament but a huge question mark still surrounds Kohli's Test credentials.
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