Virat on throwdown trio's contribution to his success

Indian run-machine Virat Kohli has credited the team's throwdown trio of D Raghvendra, Nuwan Seneviratne and Dayanand Garani for making a "big difference" to his batting.

The throwdown specialists use a sidearm, a cricketing equipment in the shape of a long spoon, to hurl the ball at high speed (in the range of 140-150kmph) to test the batters at the nets.

"All three of them have given us world-class practice every time we play. They challenge us in the nets like any 145 or 150kmph pace bowlers. They always try to get us out and make sure that they test us regularly," Kohli told young Indian opener Shubman Gill in an interaction on BCCI.tv after the third and final ODI against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

"At times, it feels very intense. For me that has been the difference in my career, to be very honest.... From where I was as a cricketer before I started getting this kind of practice to where I am today."

Karnataka's Raghavendra, who is fondly known as 'Raghu' joined the BCCI from the National Cricket Academy, and was the first to join Team India. He would regularly give throwdowns to batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

India then hired left-handed Sri Lankan Seneviratne in 2018 to help them prepare for left-arm pacers.

A civic volunteer in Kolkata Police, Dayanand, who was with Kings XI Punjab, was roped in by Team India after Raghu tested positive for COVID-19 in 2020 and has become a permanent support staff since then.

"A lot of credit has go to these guys, who have given us practice regularly and their contribution has been unbelievable. You guys should remember their names and faces because, behind our success, a lot of effort has been put in by these guys," Kohli said.

Gill, who was interviewing Kohli, was quick to add: "These three combined would have had 1200 to 1500 wickets. They prepare us for all kinds of conditions heading into the match."

India thrashed Sri Lanka by 317 runs in the final ODI to sweep the series 3-0, with Kohli notching two hundreds from three matches.