Karachi [Pakistan]: After guiding India to a five-match Test series win against the Alastair Cook-led side, skipper Virat Kohli on Monday revealed how a sage advice from legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar after a disastrous tour of England two years ago helped him turning into one of the top batsmen in the world.
Kohli failed to perform during India’s 1-3 series defeat in England in 2014, managing only 134 runs in over 10 innings.
However, the Indian skipper is now celebrating a 3-0 series win over England after clinching a crushing victory by an inning and 36 runs in the fourth Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Recalling the days, Kohli said he spoke to Tendulkar, who gave him the best advice of not reading or looking up the things that is being said about him.
“The best advice [from Tendulkar] was not to read or look up things that were being said about me. I’m not joking or trying to be sarcastic. That was the best advice I got,” the Express Tribune quoted Kohli as saying.
“That was one thing that kept pulling me back as far as Test cricket is concerned,” added Kohli, who took over Test captaincy from Mahendra Singh Dhoni early last year.
The 27-year-old insisted that it was Tendulkar’s advice that greatly helped him to stay focused on what he has to do on the field.
“Being captain took my mind more off those things, because I had absolutely no time to read up or hear what people had to say about me. It was all about thinking about what the team has to do and that has helped me immensely to stay focused on what I have to do on the field,” the swashbuckling batsman said.
Kohli has been the standout batsman of 2016, notching more than 1,000 runs in Test cricket and bringing the total for his career to more than 4,000 runs.
Kohli, who was declared `Man of the Match`, smashed a brilliant 235-run knock to become the first Indian skipper to score three double-tons in a year. It was his first double century in Tests against England. He reached the milestone in 302 balls with 23 fours.
The victory was also Kohli’s 13th win as Test captain putting him just behind current limited-overs skipper Dhoni and former captains Sourav Ganguly and Mohammad Azharuddin.(ANI)