GETTING IT RIGHT - Virat Kohli looks to master the sweep shot

It took almost six years for the first glitch in Virat Kohli's batting to show up when James Anderson ruffled him with the moving ball outside the off-stump about a year ago in England. When the fired-up Delhi boy went Down Under last winter, he put most of those doubts to rest. The ardent India fan would like to believe that was the only chink in his armour. But the Indian Test captain chooses to think otherwise. The sweep shot ­ seemingly a modern-day batting necessity ­ wasn't needed by Virat till now. Now, faced with the challenge of a deluge of spinning deliveries on the slower pitches in the upcoming Test series in Sri Lanka, Virat wants to add that extra option to his batting armory.

The first glimpse of Virat attempting to sweep came against Australia's Nathan Lyon in the Test series before the World Cup. Towards the end of the recent month-long break, Virat went back to his childhood coach in West Delhi to brush up his game and work on the sweep shot. "His batting is technically very clean but he never played the sweep shot," Rajkumar Sharma told TOI, "But now he is making a conscious effort to sweep and he feels he needs to master that as it will help him dominate the spinners even better."

The coach added that Kohli was working hard to develop the stroke. "He came here to practice for a few days and asked for dry and rough pitches. He batted for nearly two hours every day against spinners and practised the sweep." But then came the disclaimer."He hasn't developed it completely . He will be very cautious playing the shot, if at all he decides to play it," said Sharma.

In his last international innings, Virat lost his stumps after losing his shape when trying to sweep Bangladesh left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hassan out of the attack. Even in the World Cup, he fell against Zimbabwe after failing to execute the sweep. For all his imposing play against the slow bowlers, Virat has often fallen to them due to indecisive strokes over the last year, starting with Moeen Ali in England.

Preparations aside, Virat's string of mediocre scores after his hundred in the first match of the World Cup against Pakistan could indicate a wobbling form. On Wednesday, he fell cheaply in the first innings against Australia 'A' in Chennai. But his coach feels otherwise. "He is in good touch. It's unfortunate that he got out cheaply."