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India's Asia Cup crown on the line against resurgent Sri Lanka
7h . Hemant Brar
Kohli 'made a conscious effort to strike at a higher pace' but rush of wickets forced slowdown
21h . Shashank Kishore
Nawaz thrives on 'positive pressure' to continue giving Pakistan the all-round edge
19h . Shashank Kishore
Rizwan, Nawaz star as Pakistan clinch a classic
1d . Sidharth Monga
Top 10 Chappell-Hadlee classics ft. McCullum, Symonds, Stoinis
20h . Andrew McGlashan
Chappell-Hadlee resumption chance for New Zealand to end long wait for success in Australia
20h . Andrew McGlashan
Aaron Finch is in a rut, and faces a big week in his ODI career
1d . Andrew McGlashan
Williamson: Cricket's landscape is changing 'so quickly'
22h . AAP
Lockie Ferguson 'refreshed and raring to go' in Australia
2d. S Sudarshanan
Williamson: Cricket's landscape is changing 'so quickly'
22h . AAP
Nawaz thrives on 'positive pressure' to continue giving Pakistan the all-round edge
19h . Shashank Kishore
Top 10 Chappell-Hadlee classics ft. McCullum, Symonds, Stoinis
20h . Andrew McGlashan
Dottin trumps Matthews to give Knight Riders inaugural WCPL title
22h . ESPNcricinfo staff
Shardul Thakur replaces injured Prasidh Krishna in India A squad
1d . PTI

News

Dravid: With Virat, people get a bit obsessed with statistics

"But for us, it's not really about looking at how many runs he makes. It's about the contributions"

virat image

Rahul Dravid on Virat Kohli: We are happy with his performance • Getty Images



Hear it loud and clear. Rahul Dravid is not concerned over Virat Kohli's form and while people on the outside may be "a bit obsessed with his statistics and numbers", the people on the inside know their former captain is worth much more than the fifties and hundreds he can score.

"He played very well in the last match [against Hong Kong], and we are happy with his performance," Dravid said. "He is also coming back after a gap of almost a month. It's nice to the see that he has come back fresh and that he is looking forward to playing every game. Not that he wasn't looking forward to playing every game earlier."

In a chat with Star Sports prior to the Asia Cup, Kohli had touched upon the reasons for his lack of runs. He was point blank when he said, he had been "trying to fake intensity a bit" in his determination to keep playing. At the time, Kohli also opened up about how the demands of his schedule had affected his love for training, something that "disturbed" him and made him realise he needed "to step away" for some time.

It appears to have worked. India captain Rohit Sharma saw a freshness to Kohli when the team first got together for this tournament in the UAE and Dravid agreed with that assessment.

"Sometimes with Virat, he is just one of those guys who is always on," Dravid said. "It's not that earlier he was not. It's nice, I'm glad he has had that opportunity to take a break, come back refreshed and relaxed. He's got a chance to be out in the middle, spend some time in the middle. Hopefully from here he can kick on have a really good tournament."