Virat should learn to leave a lot of deliveries: Coach Sharma

New Delhi: Virat Kohli has been an utter disappointment in the ongoing Test series against England but his personal coach and mentor Rajkumar Sharma is confident that the talented batsman would come out stronger from this experience.

"If you ask me, he now needs to work on leaving the deliveries alone in the longer version. The manner in which he got out in both innings of Kolkata Test match warrants that. I have already had a discussion with him in this regard," Sharma said on Sunday. Kohli has scored just 85 runs in three Tests with a highest score of only 20, and at a dismal average of 17. Sharma attributed this problem to the number of shots that batsmen play these days in the shorter formats. "If you are playing a lot of ODIs and T20`s, you grow a habit of playing one shot too many. Virat also has grown a penchant for trying to hit every ball. That doesn`t work in Test cricket. "Credit should also be given to James Anderson and Steven Finn. Look at the length they bowled. If you pitch the ball in the fourth or fifth stump, there is a dilemma in the batsman as to whether he should go for the shot or not. Virat is also suffering from that dilemma," Sharma explained. But the coach is confident that his favourite student would bounce back after this slump in form. "He is mentally very tough and also willing to work hard in order to iron out the flaws. He just needs one good start and I am confident that he will capitalise on it. I have told him to watch the videos of his ODI centuries. May be the situations were different but he did a lot of things right during those innings. He should remain positive." PTI