Virat Kohli’s intensity is non-negotiable, says former India fielding coach Dilip

Former India fielding coach T Dilip praised Virat Kohli’s unmatched intensity and influence on teammates, recalled India’s 2024 Barbados triumph, explained the idea behind the fielding medal, and highlighted Suryakumar Yadav’s iconic catch in the T20 World Cup final.

Hyderabad: Former India fielding coach T Dilip from Hyderabad, whose successful stint of nearly five years with the Indian team came to an end after the recent tour of England, said “When it comes to Virat Kohli, intensity is non-negotiable. You have seen him in the powerplay, how he is as a batsman, whether at cover or short mid-wicket, with his reflexes and with his dives, is admirable. Even in the last series, he was putting in those dives and was sharp, always at you all the time.”

Speaking to JioStar, Dilip, who hails from Warangal (Telangana), said: “Even at this juncture of his career, he runs from long-on to long-on at either end during the death overs, and he is the first one to run out of the circle when the field is spread, and that’s a fabulous thing to do for the team. But what impressed me more is not just the actions, what he does when the ball is at him, but also when the ball is not near him, he wants the ball in his hands.”

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“With Virat Kohli, there is not much difference between him in a practice session and a match, because it’s not just Virat; it’s the five other players who have stretched their limits when they are fielding with Virat Kohli. That’s the influence he brings into the group,” he said.

“If I go back to my best moment, I think Barbados 2024, not just the trophy, but the dressing room atmosphere afterwards, the silence for a few seconds before it broke. I think in that silence, I could sense the amount of hard work the boys had put in over those four years. And I’ll always keep that frame in my mind,” Dilip said.

On the thinking behind introducing the fielding medal, Dilip said: “What I thought was to recognise the overall impact as a fielder rather than just a spectacular catch. But what it brought in was that all the 11 players on the field, who may not be in the hotspots, had a feeling inside them that, ‘A little contribution would get me that award.’ That positive competition among the group had started and, automatically, players started to notice even small things while being on the field.”

“They celebrated when their other teammates did something exceptional. And that was a huge factor for me because, at the end of the day, the fielding medal is a team award. The players embraced it, fans supported it, and fielding got the recognition it deserved the most,” he said.

On Suryakumar Yadav’s catch in the last over of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 final which helped India win the trophy against South Africa, Dilip recalled: “For the first few seconds, I was silent and calm physically because my mind was doing all the calculations, whether Surya had taken that ball cleanly, whether his feet were inside the boundary rope, whether he had popped the ball out in time. So, my mind was doing all the calculations. But once it was confirmed that it was a clean catch, there was a surge of emotions. But in the back of my mind, I also knew that the match had yet to be completed. But that was an extraordinary catch by Surya in the context of the game.”

On the importance of fielding placement in the slips ahead of India’s Test tour of Sri Lanka, Dilip said “The important factor is that the spacing between the fielders has to be very fine because the ball comes faster in the slip region while fielding to fast bowlers. You may not have time to really go wide on your lateral side.”

“And for the spinners, I think, with most of the spinners, we saw how Shubman placed them in the Afghanistan series. It’s like, how would you place yourself, the gap between your keeper and slip, to take those finer edges which go on to your left side? And also, based on the turn, how fast or slow it is coming, how much you should stand away from the batter or not, will be key,” he signed off.