Sanjay Bangar was a ringside witness to Virat Kohli’s peak as an international cricketer between 2014 to 2019, and it was hardly surprising to find the former India batting coach being summoned by the star for a special nets session ahead of his Ranji Trophy comeback after more than 12 years.Following the BCCI’s diktat to all centrally contracted cricketers to be available for domestic cricket, Kohli, who has been struggling for form, will be playing in Delhi’s last league game against Railways at the Kotla from January 30.For Kohli, 190 runs in 9 completed knocks in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy raised serious question marks about his future in international cricket. The 36-year-old has been dealing with technical issues against deliveries on and outside the off-stump channel with a similar pattern of dismissals.If one speaks to knowledgeable people in the Indian cricket circuit, they would tell you about the comfort level that Kohli used to share with batting coach Bangar during their five years in the national team. Between 2014 to 2019, Kohli scored the bulk of his 80 international hundreds, and since the end of Bangar’s tenure, he has made only two Test centuries in the last five years.Bangar had to move on from the national team after the 2019 ODI World Cup.That Kohli always trusted Bangar’s inputs was evident when post his stint with the Indian team, he got associated with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, a franchise where the former Indian captain’s viewpoints carry a lot of weight.
