Ahead of Ranji comeback, Kohli summons former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar

Sanjay Bangar was a ringside witness to Virat Kohlis peak as an international cricketer from 2014 to 2019 and it was surprising to see the former Team India batting coach being summoned by the stalwart for a net session ahead of Kohlis Ranji Trophy comebackFollowing the Board of Control for Cricket in Indias BCCI guidelines that all centrally contracted players should be available for domestic cricket Virat Kohli who has been struggling for form will be featuring in Delhis last league match against RailwaysVirat Kohlis national teammates Rohit Sharma Yashasvi Jaiswal Shubman Gill Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja all featured in the Ranji Trophy for their respective teamsAmong the stars only Jadeja and Gill enjoyed fruitful outings After Virat Kohli managed to score 190 runs in nine complete knocks in the BorderGavaskar Trophy serious questions have been raised considering his future in international cricketThe 36yearold has been dealing with technical issues against deliveries on and outside the offstump channel with a similar pattern of dismissals If one speaks to knowledgeable people in the Indian cricket circuit they would tell you about the comfort level that Kohli used to share with batting coach Bangar during their five years in the national team Between 2014 to 2019 Kohli scored the bulk of his 80 international hundreds and since the end of Bangars tenure he has made only two Test centurions in the last five yearsAlso ReadPakistan in trouble at 764 as West Indies spinners frustrate pursuit of tricky target in 2nd testSanjay Bangar had to move on from the national team after the 2019 ODI World Cup as Vikram Rathour was roped in as the batting coach When Kohlis feedback was sought post 2019 World Cup he had given a glowing certificate to Sanjay Bangar stating that as a batter he had benefitted a lot from his technical inputs during all those years a senior BCCI official who was then associated with the appointment of support staff told PTI That Kohli always trusted Sanjay Bangars inputs was evident when post his stint with Indian team he got associated with Royal Challengers Bengaluru a franchise where the former Indian captains view points carry a lot of weightFocus on backfoot playVirat Kohli missed the last round of Ranji Trophy due to a neck sprain and in his bid to get his rhythm back he called Bangar who arranged for a training session which is believed to be off proper Mumbai city limits It is a facility which has been personally developed by the former India allrounder and Railways skipper Bangar was seen feeding Kohli with throwdown from 16 yards with focus on playing the rising deliveries on the backfoot A portable cement slab with attached wheels was placed at the back of length midpitch between 810m length to feed the batter with back of length deliveries that rise steeplyThe idea for such a training session is to develop the backfoot play and also create more range square of the wicket Kohli is a compulsive frontfoot player with a propensity to play the coverdrive and over the years the backfoot play took a backseat Ahead of the Ranji Trophy match the idea was to ensure that even if he doesnt get too many pitchedup drivable length deliveries he can still rock back and hit shots square of the wicket Over the years if one revisits Kohlis wagon wheel one wouldnt find too many square cuts or square drives two staple shots for batter when they rock back to deliveries bowled at back of length and on the channel outside the offstump For someone with a tough mental makeup it wont be very difficult to create a new range of strokes for himselfDDCA expecting around 10000 spectatorsThe Delhi amp Districts Cricket Association DDCA officials have made arrangements where at least 10000 fans can watch the match with two stands being opened for the general public As usual the entry would be free as it has been for all of Delhis home matches at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground for all these years There has never been any entry fee charged for watching Ranji matches and the same custom would follow The only thing is that two stands will be opened for the fans as we understand the level of excitement associated with Virats participation a senior official saidWith PTI Inputs