"One needs to have the stature Ravi Shastri had" - Former India coach feels current coaching staff not competent enough to advice Virat Kohli

Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun believes India's Gautam Gambir-led coaching staff isn't competent enough to give suggestions to Virat Kohli. He opined that a coach needs the stature of a Ravi Shastri to guide the ace batter.

Arun recalled how during Shastri's tenure as Team India's head coach, he advised Kohli to change his leg stump guard and use the crease to counter the swing in English conditions. He highlighted that the former captain followed the suggestion and it helped him dominate during the side's Australia tour in 2014-15.

The 62-year-old suggested that current head coach Gambhir, or his assistant coaches Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar lack the kind of confidence that Shastri had. Speaking on Subramaniam Badrinath's YouTube channel, Arun said (quoted as saying by Times Now):

"Shastri told him, 'You stand on the leg stump and the ball swings in England. You cannot stand here, stand on the middle stump, come out of the crease. You are the owner of the crease.' Kohli followed this in Australia and scored four centuries. To say this to Kohli, one needs to have the kind of stature and confidence that Ravi Shastri had, which I think the current coaching staff does not have."

It is worth mentioning that Virat Kohli's outside off-stum woes came back to haunt him during India's recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. While he kicked off the tour with an unbeaten 100 in the second innings of the Test series opener, he failed to make a significant impact in the remaining fixtures.

Kohli ultimately finished with 190 runs across nine innings at an average of 23.75. Australia won the five-match series 3-1 to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 10 years.

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"He will ask how are you saying this, what mistake did I make?" - Bharat Arun on how Virat Kohli reacts to advice

In the aforementioned video, Bharat Arun said that Virat Kohli tends to ask a lot of questions after being suggested changes to his batting style. He stated that the star batter would ask why the advice was not given when he was in good form.

Arun remarked:

"Virat will ask questions when you suggest, obviously he's world no.1 batter. He will ask how are you saying this, what mistake did I make? I scored runs, why did you not tell me at that time?"

Team India will now compete with England in five T20Is and three ODIs at home. The T20 matches kick off on January 22.