'Coaches are afraid': Ex-India coach opens up on confronting Virat Kohli over technical flaw
toi
newspoint|09-11-2026
Former India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has opened up about a behind-the-scenes conversation with Virat Kohli during India's tour of Australia, revealing how carefully he planned a technical intervention with the batting superstar after noticing a recurring flaw in his batting.
Kohli had endured a difficult run during the tour, repeatedly getting dismissed while attempting to drive deliveries outside the off stump. With the same mode of dismissal becoming a talking point, questions were raised about whether the Indian coaching staff was doing enough to address the issue.
Speaking on the talkSPORT Cricket podcast, Ten Doeschate explained that approaching an established international star with technical suggestions is not always straightforward. He believes the growing influence of players in modern cricket has made several coaches hesitant about intervening when senior players are going through a difficult phase.
"I think a lot of coaches are afraid to make interventions because it can be seen that you are, you know, trying to justify your job, or you're interfering, or just saying things for the sake of saying it," Ten Doeschate said.
"You've got to strike the balance of making an intervention that's going to help the player, or confusing them."
The former Netherlands all-rounder said he was determined not to let the fear of how a player might react prevent him from offering advice. He recalled eventually approaching Kohli during the fourth Test of the Australia tour to discuss his repeated dismissals.
"I never want to be a coach who is scared of an opinion of someone else for stepping in, for saying the right thing. I actually was just telling a really great story about Virat and the troubles he had in Australia with driving the ball and nicking off. Eventually, in the fourth Test, I went to intervene and chat to him. And he was brilliant about it! And he actually wanted someone to chat to him," he said.
However, Ten Doeschate admitted that initiating such a conversation with a player of Kohli's stature can be a delicate exercise. According to him, coaches need to consider not just what they want to communicate but also how and when they deliver the message.
"But my sense is, for a coach to go to a player like Virat Kohli and intervene and almost call them out on what's happening can be dangerous for you as a coach. And I think getting the wording right around that and how you deliver it is so important.
"The way the power shift has moved towards the players in the modern era does mean that a lot of coaches are scared to bring up topics or at least get talking about it."
Ten Doeschate further explained that the objective of coaching should not necessarily be to convince a player to abandon his preferred approach. Instead, it should involve understanding the batter's thinking and finding ways to make adjustments without taking away what works for him.
He recalled how Kohli explained his reasoning behind continuing to play the drive in the manner he did, making the exchange a discussion rather than a one-sided technical instruction.
"You don't have to agree. You might say, 'I want to drive on the up for these reasons,' and that's actually what happened with Virat. He really explained why he wanted to play in the way he played, and then you can tweak around that," Ten Doeschate revealed.
The former assistant coach also highlighted the danger of introducing technical doubts into a batter's mind at the wrong moment. A player preparing to face a high-quality fast bowler could become distracted if he starts thinking too much about a particular aspect of his technique.
"There's always a risk that you sort of unsettle his frame of mind. You know, he might be in a really good place, and now you say, 'You know, I've noticed when you're pulling... you're just taking your eye off the ball.' Technically, you might want him to watch the ball a little bit longer, but now all of a sudden he's thinking about pulling, and he's got to go out and face Mitchell Starc . So that's not the time to do it," he said.
Ten Doeschate revealed that the conversation with Kohli had been on his mind for some time before he eventually found an appropriate opportunity during a rain interruption.
He said the repeated nature of Kohli's dismissals had prompted him to think carefully about how to raise the subject without making the batter feel that his technique was being questioned.
"In that situation, it had been bubbling away, and it was more a case of me building up the courage and delivering it in the right way. I was lucky enough to have a decent relationship with Virat. He's obviously not someone who needs a lot of coaching, and that was one thing that really stuck out-the manner of the dismissal being so same-same," he said.
Explaining how he eventually approached the conversation, Ten Doeschate said he deliberately avoided making it sound like a direct criticism of Kohli's batting.
"So I had thought about it a lot, and I thought how I could deliver it. You know, I'm not going to go to him and say, 'Mate, you've got cover drives all over the show.' But I then worked out a time-it was during a rain break-where I could deliver it in quite a non-confrontational way. And credit to him, the way he took it on ended up being a really great discussion."
While the intervention did not produce the desired outcome towards the end of the series, Ten Doeschate considered the experience an important lesson in communication and coaching.
"Unfortunately, it didn't deliver the results we wanted towards the back end of the series, but you know, I'd say if you can deliver it to someone like him, you can deliver it to anyone. Just finding the right way of dropping your message is really important," he added.
Kohli had endured a difficult run during the tour, repeatedly getting dismissed while attempting to drive deliveries outside the off stump. With the same mode of dismissal becoming a talking point, questions were raised about whether the Indian coaching staff was doing enough to address the issue.
Speaking on the talkSPORT Cricket podcast, Ten Doeschate explained that approaching an established international star with technical suggestions is not always straightforward. He believes the growing influence of players in modern cricket has made several coaches hesitant about intervening when senior players are going through a difficult phase.
"I think a lot of coaches are afraid to make interventions because it can be seen that you are, you know, trying to justify your job, or you're interfering, or just saying things for the sake of saying it," Ten Doeschate said.
"You've got to strike the balance of making an intervention that's going to help the player, or confusing them."
The former Netherlands all-rounder said he was determined not to let the fear of how a player might react prevent him from offering advice. He recalled eventually approaching Kohli during the fourth Test of the Australia tour to discuss his repeated dismissals.
"I never want to be a coach who is scared of an opinion of someone else for stepping in, for saying the right thing. I actually was just telling a really great story about Virat and the troubles he had in Australia with driving the ball and nicking off. Eventually, in the fourth Test, I went to intervene and chat to him. And he was brilliant about it! And he actually wanted someone to chat to him," he said.
However, Ten Doeschate admitted that initiating such a conversation with a player of Kohli's stature can be a delicate exercise. According to him, coaches need to consider not just what they want to communicate but also how and when they deliver the message.
"But my sense is, for a coach to go to a player like Virat Kohli and intervene and almost call them out on what's happening can be dangerous for you as a coach. And I think getting the wording right around that and how you deliver it is so important.
"The way the power shift has moved towards the players in the modern era does mean that a lot of coaches are scared to bring up topics or at least get talking about it."
Ten Doeschate further explained that the objective of coaching should not necessarily be to convince a player to abandon his preferred approach. Instead, it should involve understanding the batter's thinking and finding ways to make adjustments without taking away what works for him.
He recalled how Kohli explained his reasoning behind continuing to play the drive in the manner he did, making the exchange a discussion rather than a one-sided technical instruction.
"You don't have to agree. You might say, 'I want to drive on the up for these reasons,' and that's actually what happened with Virat. He really explained why he wanted to play in the way he played, and then you can tweak around that," Ten Doeschate revealed.
The former assistant coach also highlighted the danger of introducing technical doubts into a batter's mind at the wrong moment. A player preparing to face a high-quality fast bowler could become distracted if he starts thinking too much about a particular aspect of his technique.
"There's always a risk that you sort of unsettle his frame of mind. You know, he might be in a really good place, and now you say, 'You know, I've noticed when you're pulling... you're just taking your eye off the ball.' Technically, you might want him to watch the ball a little bit longer, but now all of a sudden he's thinking about pulling, and he's got to go out and face Mitchell Starc . So that's not the time to do it," he said.
Ten Doeschate revealed that the conversation with Kohli had been on his mind for some time before he eventually found an appropriate opportunity during a rain interruption.
He said the repeated nature of Kohli's dismissals had prompted him to think carefully about how to raise the subject without making the batter feel that his technique was being questioned.
"In that situation, it had been bubbling away, and it was more a case of me building up the courage and delivering it in the right way. I was lucky enough to have a decent relationship with Virat. He's obviously not someone who needs a lot of coaching, and that was one thing that really stuck out-the manner of the dismissal being so same-same," he said.
Explaining how he eventually approached the conversation, Ten Doeschate said he deliberately avoided making it sound like a direct criticism of Kohli's batting.
"So I had thought about it a lot, and I thought how I could deliver it. You know, I'm not going to go to him and say, 'Mate, you've got cover drives all over the show.' But I then worked out a time-it was during a rain break-where I could deliver it in quite a non-confrontational way. And credit to him, the way he took it on ended up being a really great discussion."
While the intervention did not produce the desired outcome towards the end of the series, Ten Doeschate considered the experience an important lesson in communication and coaching.
"Unfortunately, it didn't deliver the results we wanted towards the back end of the series, but you know, I'd say if you can deliver it to someone like him, you can deliver it to anyone. Just finding the right way of dropping your message is really important," he added.
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