Bangalore: Former captain Rahul Dravid lavished praise on Virat Kohli on Monday, terming him the “best Indian batsman” on current form, and said that anchoring the stiff run-chase under pressure in the second Test against New Zealand would do his confidence good.
“Virat has been fantastic. On current form, he is the best batsman in the Indian team. He has really grabbed the opportunities provided,” said Dravid, who was invited by the official TV broadcasters as a guest commentator.
As Kohli along with skipper MS Dhoni successfully anchored India’s chase, Dravid said that the experience of guiding the team to victory in the fourth innings will bolster his confidence.
“He (Virat) has Dhoni to guide him but this run chase will certainly boost his confidence.”
For someone who was termed as a wayward talent, Virat has come a long way, felt Dravid.
“I have been following his career since his U-19 days. As he was a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore set-up, I have seen him closely. His talent was never questioned, but he had some issues regarding mental discipline.
“When you watch a young player first, you would like to see him again after a period of three or six months. You would like to find out whether he has worked on his mistakes or not. That gives you an idea as what they are leaning.
“But I am glad he has learnt from his mistakes and has come up as an improved batsman. He had earlier issues about short-pitched stuff but he has now improved a lot,” the veteran of 164 Tests stated.
Dravid named Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary as players who have the ability to make it into Tests.
“Rahane is a very talented batsman. His first few years with Mumbai Indians were tough as they had a strong batting line-up but he came to Royals… and he made full use of those chances.”
On the home crowd, Dravid was pleased to see the level of turnout in the Test. “This shows that Test cricket is still followed in traditional centres.” (PTI)