India vs England 5th Test: Rahul Dravid opens up on Virat Kohli's form, says, 'focus is not on..'

The upcoming fifth and last rescheduled Test between India and England will see some battles within the battle. One of them will be of Virat Kohli fighting his inner demons to come out on top. He has been struggling for runs for quite some time. Not to forget, he has not scored a hundred across formats for India, or in IPL, since November of 2019. It seems he will be forever stuck on 70 international tons. It's not that he has not got starts or reached closed to the three-figure mark. But every time he is close, he runs out of luck or comes out a bad cricketing shot or decision. Will it be tough for Virat to bat these demons and come back to his brutal best? How tough is it for Virat to overcome his failures vs England? How should he fight these setbacks? Does he lack motivation? Head coach Rahul Dravid was asked all these questions on Virat when he spoke to a group of Indian reporters. Dravid had a simple answer: Virat is still the same cricketer who does the basics right. 

How do we stop Baz Ball? _#Edgbaston | #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/bUCpmhMqTU — Edgbaston (@Edgbaston) June 29, 2022

"His desire, his hunger, his prepration is there. The way he played vs Leicestershire (showed it). He is ticking all the right boxes. Players go through these kind of phases, You don't really need motivation, there is no lack of motivation or desire as far as Virat is concerned," said Dravid ahead of the all-important fifth Test. 

Dravid added that a hundred should be not the lone mark of success for a batter and from a team's perspective, a quality 70 or 80 could also be a match-winning knock and this is what they expect from Virat also. 

"Sometimes you bat well but you don't get big scores. Even a 70 is a good innings, he played a brilliant 70 in Cape Town. He could not convert it into a hundred. People only see 100 as a success. But as coach, I want a match-winning contribition from him. But it is not a focus on three figures. For us it is all about contribition, on and off the field, just the way he carries himself," concluded Dravid.