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{/source}Virat Kohli is having a time of his life. Since his rise to prominence in the game, he has never looked back and has been climbing up the success ladder like no other. He is currently the second best ODI batsmen in the world according to the ICC ranking table. He is the fastest Indian batsman to reach 3000 runs in ODIs and another feather was added to his cap when he was nominated for cricketer of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year award.

Virat’s career is just four years old and he has already played some great knocks including 137 against Sri Lanka in Australia, 183 against Pakistan to name a few. For the record, he has played 89 one day international matches and already has 13 centuries to his credit.  And it would be interesting to know that no batsmen had a better record than him at this stage, including illustrious names like Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Dean Jones, M S Dhoni, Michael Bevan, Sachin Tendulkar and Vivian Richards.

He however has not been able to replicate the same kind of influence in Test cricket. Well that might be because he did not get to play many matches and even though he has played only eight matches he has a century to his name.

Well the kind of quality he possess he can surely replicate his limited overs form into the longer version of the game. Such has been his impact on the Indian cricket that he is now compared with the ‘Little Master’ Sachin Tendulkar.

It is a fact that Virat’s records are better than Sachin at this stage of the career and he very well can go on to break his records. Even Sachin claimed that Virat has it in him to break his record of 100 centuries.
But then it is not only quality that might see him bettering Sachin’s record. He will need to have the temperament and the dedication to replicate the feat and who else could teach him all that rather than the man himself.

Virat is known to be close with the maestro and he can take a cue from his 23-year-old career and learn a lot. It is not necessary that Virat would necessarily have to play so long but then there are few things which he could learn from him.

Here are few qualities that Virat can learn from the batting genius:

Art of handling pressure: Well no sportsperson in the country has ever been subjected to more pressure than this man. Sachin has learned to live with pressure and this is one of the most important reasons as to why he is so successful in his career. The whole country kind of stops when he is batting and delivering, time and again to expectations of the whole country is something Virat has to learn from him. Virat is good with handling pressure but then has to learn how to refine the skill and learn to handle not only on the field but off it also.

Discipline: It is a known fact that youngsters show act of indiscipline on the cricket pitch, which make them lose their respect. Sachin in his career spanning over more than two decades have never shown any sign of indiscipline and Kohli will have to learn it from him.

Focus: It is Sachin’s focus that has enabled him to carry on with the game for so long. The whole cricketing fraternity has their eyes set on him when he goes out to bat, something which is now the case with Virat as well. This comes with success and Kohli should learn from Sachin that how success is controlled from the batsman who has been doing it from more than two decades.

Staying away from controversies: It has been seen in past that players often fall apart from the sport due to controversies. Sachin has been able to maintain that and Kohli should learn from as to how to stay it.

Dedication: The Little Master for sure can give classes on dedication to the Kohli. His 22-year-old career and hunger to do well has helped the country win so many matches and Kohli should imbibe the same in him. It is sheer hunger and dedication towards the sport and the country that has made him play for so long and if Kohli can learn all these from him then sure he can reach the Sachin in on now.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhary

Indian Sports News