Jermaine Blackwood reveals how a ‘small conversation’ with Virat Kohli helped him
Virat Kohli is someone who is available not just for his teammates. If you are wondering what this is all about, West Indies batsman Jermaine Blackwood revealed that he had a chat with the Indian batting maestro the last time India toured the West Indies.
Blackwood added that in 2019 when India visited the land of the West Indies, he had the chance to speak to Kohli when he was the substitute for his side. Blackwood asked the Indian skipper regarding the art of converting a half-century into a century. The West Indian added that Kohli told him that the crucial factor was to spend time in the middle and face a lot of deliveries.
Surely, Kohli will know a thing or two about scoring hundreds as he has scored a whopping 70 centuries in international cricket. Well, this is what Blackwood revealed about his conversation with the Indian batting great.
“I don’t really have a lot of conversations with international players. I talked to Virat Kohli a few times as well, on social media. The last time India toured the Caribbean, I had a chance to talk to him in Jamaica when I was there subbing. So, after the game, I just had a small conversation. I asked him about how all the time that I have a lot of half-centuries and one century. He just said, what will you do when you score a century, how many deliveries did you face? I said I faced 212 balls. He said that’s it, once you can bat some balls, you’re going to score runs,” said Blackwood in a chat with Cricbuzz.
How Kohli’s advice helped Blackwood
The West Indian batsman said that Kohli’s advice helped him a lot. He admits he now tells himself that the important thing is to stay for a long time in the middle and play around 200 to 300 deliveries, regardless of the opposition.
“So, I took a big thing from that. After that conversation, I tell myself that once I can bat over 200 or 300 balls, the way I bat, I can score runs regardless of who I am playing against or where I am playing,” added Blackwood.
Blackwood also threw light on his bonding with teammate Andre Russell. He stated that he has also spoken a lot with Russell, and he got a lot of advice from his teammate. The right-hander also added that despite Russell playing just one Test match, he knows exactly what he is doing.
“What I learned was that you couldn’t make a hundred in an over or two. You have to spend hours at the crease. I did a lot of talking with Russell, and he gave me a lot of pointers on what I needed to do. Not because just T20s. He only played one Test match, but he is a guy who knows his cricket,” concluded Blackwood.
