‘He is very different’ – Ravi Ashwin recalls how Virat Kohli’s advises worked wonders for him

Virat Kohli is currently India’s most successful skipper in Test cricket after his team beat the West Indies in Jamaica last year. He surpassed MS Dhoni’s tally and is at the peak of his glorious career. Ravi Ashwin, the Indian off-spinner, recently recalled a few instances when Kohli’s suggestions worked wonders for him. One of such occasions came in the Galle Test against Sri Lanka in 2015.

Through the hosts won the game by 63 runs, Ashwin picked up 10 wickets, consisting of a six-wicket haul. During the game, Ashwin said how Virat asked him to bowl at a left-hander, Jehan Mubarak, with no covers in place. It surprised the tweaker, but the move paid dividends as the ball straightened and the batsman was caught at short leg by KL Rahul.

Virat Kohli asked me to bowl and not to worry, says Ashwin

“I was going through an unbelievable spell at Galle – where whatever I dreamt of, was happening. The drift of the ball was controlled, it was landing where I wanted it to land, the arm ball was falling like a dream and every time the batsman edged, it was going to the fielder,” Ashwin told to Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz.

“During the spell, Jehan Mubarak walked to the crease. There was a point, a cover, an extra cover, a mid-off, a mid-on, and a square leg in place – that makes it six, slip gully and silly point. Virat picked out the extra man at covers and put it at leg slip. He then told me to bowl a carom ball as the cover was open, and there were no fielders there,” Ashwin stated.

“I told him, Virat, a left-hander is batting, and we have no covers? He asked me to bowl and not to worry about being hit for a boundary. You won’t believe, I bowled the next ball, it straightened, and Jehan Mubarak hit it straight to short leg,” he added.

Ashwin recalled another occasion of Virat’s heist as the skipper. It was during the opening Test against New Zealand earlier this year at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. It was another game when India lost, this time by 10 wickets.

Ashwin didn’t disappoint though, picking up the three wickets of Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme and Kyle Jamieson. While planning Nicholls’ dismissal, the Tamim Nadu cricketer said how Virat thought from a batsman’s perspective and moved the cover fielder to the gully region.