AB de Villiers on Sunday urged former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate Virat Kohli to reset his mind and avoid on-field tiffs in order to get back to form.
Kohli had a torrid series in the recently concluded Border Gavsakar Trophy Tests against Australia where he scored just 190 runs in 5 matches.
“I think the thing is to reset your mind every time. Virat loves the fight, but when you’re not in the form of your life, it’s best to get rid of those things. As a batter, it is to reset every single and understand every ball is an event and just forget about the bowler,” de Villiers in a video on X.
“I think sometimes Virat forgets about that because of his fighting spirit and the nature of the man wanting to be involved and show the whole of India he is there to fight for them. The skill, experience and greatness of the guy (Kohli) are not an issue. It’s sometimes about the refocus after every single ball. Maybe sometimes he gets involved too much,” he added.
Kohli grabbed headlines in the 4th Test when he had an on-field issue with Australia’s Sam Konstas when both players had run into each other on the field. He also had a brief stare down with the Melbourne crowd who jeered him after his dismissal in the Test.
“I think with Virat, he gets involved with the battle on the field. That’s one of his biggest strengths and it can also be a weakness. During this series, we saw him have individual battles with some of the players, the crowd got under his skin,” De Villiers said.
“Every single batter in the world has some sort of weakness or some dismissals that keep coming up. Of course, Virat can overcome his problem and come back to form. It takes a lot of character, a lot of hunger, lot of hours in the nets. I think the thing is to reset your mind, every time,” the Proteas legend added.