Virat Kohli
“I think a lot of coaches are afraid to make interventions because it can be seen that you are, you know, trying to justify your job, or you’re interfering, or just saying things for the sake of saying it,” Ten Doeschate said.
The former Netherlands all-rounder said he was determined not to let the fear of how a player might react prevent him from offering advice. And he actually wanted someone to chat to him,” he said. Coaches need to consider not just what they want to communicate but also how and when they deliver the message, according to him.
“You’ve got to strike the balance of making an intervention that’s going to help the player, or confusing them. He recalled eventually approaching Kohli during the fourth Test of the Australia tour to discuss his repeated dismissals. “I never want to be a coach who is scared of an opinion of someone else for stepping in, for saying the right thing. I actually was just telling a really great story about Virat and the troubles he had in Australia with driving the ball and nicking off. Eventually, in the fourth Test, I went to intervene and chat to him. And he was brilliant about it! However, Ten Doeschate admitted that initiating such a conversation with a player of Kohli’s stature can be a delicate exercise. “But my sense is, for a coach to go to a player like Virat Kohli and intervene and almost call them out on what’s happening can be dangerous for you as a coach. And I think getting the wording right around that and how you deliver it is so important. Ten Doeschate further explained that the objective of coaching should not necessarily be to convince a player to abandon his preferred approach. Instead, it should involve understanding the batter’s thinking and finding ways to make adjustments without taking away what works for him. The former assistant coach also highlighted the danger of introducing technical doubts into a batter’s mind at the wrong moment. A player preparing to face a high-quality fast bowler could become distracted if he starts thinking too much about a particular aspect of his technique.