Kohli has been phenomenal despite all the noise: Dravid

Johannesburg: India Test skipper Virat Kohli has been phenomenal despite “all the noise around him” and will soon be scoring big runs, head coach Rahul Dravid said on Sunday, backing the superstar batter who has been locked in a war of words with the BCCI over the way his white-ball captaincy tenure ended.

What has added to the drama is Kohli not turning up for pre-match media interactions ever since contradicting BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s description of the sequence of events that followed his decision to relinquish T20 captaincy and removal as ODI skipper.

“I know there’s been a lot of noise on other issues outside of the group, even leading into this particular Test match. But honestly, in terms of keeping the morale high, it’s not been very difficult because it’s been led by the skipper himself,” Dravid said on the eve of the second Test against the Proteas here.

“Virat has been absolutely phenomenal over the over the last 20 days that we’ve been here. The way he’s trained the way he’s practised the way he’s connected with the group. He has been phenomenal and I could not speak more highly of him,” added the former captain. Asked why Kohli has not addressed the media so far, Dravid said, “There is no specific reason. I don’t decide this but I am told he will be speaking on eve of his 100th Test. Then you can ask all the questions on his 100th Test.”

Kohli’s 100th Test would be the third match against South Africa in Cape Town scheduled from January 11. -(PTI)