'Keeps His Shoes Clean, Doesn't Like a Mark on His Bat': Ex-Batting Coach Reveals How Virat Kohli Gears Up for Tests

Virat Kohli will be back in action on Tuesday when India lock horns with South Africa in the Boxing Day Test at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. The ace Indian batter will return to action for the first time since India’s loss in the ICC World Cup 2023 final to Australia in Ahmedabad. Kohli finished the showpiece as the highest scorer, accumulating a record 765 runs in 11 games including 3 hundreds and 6 fifties.

The achievements would have felt better if India had won the title. However, the 35-year-old has moved on and currently focusing on conquering South Africa. The team has won 2 Tests under his leadership in the previous couple of tours but winning series still remains a distant dream for India.

Kohli recently joined the team in Johannesburg after a short trip to London and began his preparation for the series. Meanwhile, former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar revealed how Kohli likes to keep his cricketing gears during Test cricket.

Speaking to Star Sports on Monday, Bagar said Kohli likes his gears neat and clean. Even in nets if he misses to connect a ball, he steps aside and returns more motivated to face the next delivery.

“Test cricket is very special for him and keeps speaking about his fondness for the traditional format. He likes to keep his shoes always clean. You will always find them white. He even likes to keep his pads tidy and doesn’t want any marks on his bat. Unke joote aur pads hamesha chakaa chak rahte hain hain (His shoes and pads are always neat and clean),” Bangar told Star Sports.

“So, that’s how he feels about Test cricket. He prepares his kit before every series. If he is getting beaten in the nets, he would step aside, think about it for a while and get back with full intensity to focus on the next delivery. All these things come with experience and a motivated player always tries to give his best in every game,” he added.

Kohli has played 14 Tests in South Africa and scored 1236 runs at an average of 56.18. He is currently the fourth-highest Test run-getter for India against South Africa. He needs 16 runs to go past Rahul Dravid’s tally of 1252 runs.