Rai all praises for Kohli

By our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 8: Former Team India member Suresh Rai was all praise for captain Virat Kohli when he said on Wednesday that the captain was dazzling with the bat and motivating his boys to follow suit.

Rai is in Guwahati to play the next Ranji Trophy game of the season. Host Assam will face Uttar Pradesh in the match and Rai will lead the visiting squad.

Talking to media persons at the sideline of the training session this morning Rai said, “Virat is leading from the front. He is in superb form and scoring big runs in every two or three games. When the captain himself sets examples it motivates the entire team. Exactly that is happening in India team now.”

In the recent past India made almost all the series one-sided affairs. Even team like Australia failed to put any pressure although there were several junior cricketers in Indian squad.

Rai felt that it was possible because of good planning that helped groom the young cricketers properly. “Present coach Ravi Shashtri did a good job during his earlier stint and it produced players like Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and a few others who are now integral parts of the team. Earlier Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni too worked similarly to promote the young cricketers. It helps strengthen the reserve bench, allows the team to perform consistently.”

The left handed batsmen, who played for India last time in a T20i match in January, is optimistic of his comeback into the team. “I’m really working hard to reach that goal”. At the same time Rai admitted that making a comeback in the current Indian team is little difficult as juniors are performing tremendously well. The UP captain also praised a lot on the current cricket infrastructure of Assam Cricket Association. “It’s really good. Local cricketers should avail these opportunities to build their careers in the game,” he said.