Jermaine Blackwood reveals how a ‘small conversation’ with Virat Kohli helped him change his batting approach

Virat Kohli who is regarded as one of the best batsman in the world and known for his aggressive approach on the field but equally cool and calm off the field.  Kohli is also known for helping players who ask advice from him which is not restricted to only Indian players but to all the players who play for different countries too.

Recently West Indies Batting prospect Jermaine Blackwood  said that he received an advice from Indian batting maestro when Men in Blue last tour West Indies. He revealed that he asked Kohli on how to convert half century into full century. The West Indian added that Kohli adviced him that the crucial factor is to spend time in the middle and face a lot of deliveries.

Surely Kohli will be the best man to seek advice when it comes to modern cricket as the Indian batting giant who had knack of scoring hundred across all three formats where he has piled up 70 International centuries till date.

“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.

Blackwood also added that the advice from Kohli helped him a lot as whenever he step on to the field now his intention is to play as many balls as he can and score big runs in the middle.

“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.