World Cup 2019: Rahul Dravid says Virat Kohli is setting new standards that once were not achievable

The Indian team will be led in the ICC World Cup 2019 by Virat Kohli for the first time in the World Cup and he is set with all the armoury required to ensure India romps home from Lord’s on 14^th July. Kohli has been leading India to new heights ever since taking over the reins in limited overs format in 2016 from MS Dhoni.

Kohli has led India to overseas bilateral series victories in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Not only on the field, even off the field, Kohli has raised the level of fitness in the Indian team and even for aspirants of making it into the team need to reach a certain level of fitness, which has in turn helped the Men in Blue stand shoulder to shoulder with fittest teams like England and Australia. This fact was even acknowledged by Rahul Dravid, a former teammate of Kohli, who said Kohli works hard on the game and comes back better every time.

Virat keeps improving, getting better, says Dravid

Dravid gave a simple example of Virat Kohli’s level of dedication and focus on his craft that he has reached so close to Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI centuries: 49. “Virat, you know he just keeps improving, keeps getting better. He is setting bars and standards that possibly we thought would never be achieved. Sachin (Tendulkar) scored 49 hundreds in one-day cricket. People thought that this would take a lot of time to achieve. But now Virat is just 10 tons away from the record-breaking mark,” Dravid was quoted as saying by Timesnownews.

Dravid also opined that it is Kohli’s habit and ability to coming back better after a disappointing tour or series. The former wicketkeeper-batsman feels the skipper analyzes his game after a drought and plugs in the holes. He gave the example of his first tour to England in 2014 and in Australia in 2011, where his numbers were below par, but then in the subsequent series, he returned to be on the top scorers in the series.

“One of the things about Virat is that even if he has a bad tour, it is not that he hasn’t had bad tours, he had disappointing tour of England in 2014, he wasn’t as successful in Australia first time around, but every time he goes back again he is a better player. He sort of reinvents his game to a point where he is constantly improving,” Dravid signed off.

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