Following Team India’s exit from last year’s T20 World Cup, experts were of the opinion that over cautious batting approach by the top order batsman including skipper Virat Kohli is letting the Men in Blue down in the shortest format of the game.
Among the top three batsman-Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, it was the then skipper of the Indian team who was under more scrutiny. In the shortest format of the game that is evolving so fast, it was difficult to fit in a player like Kohli who mainly plays an anchor role. Kohli is a kind of batsman who preserves his wicket in most of the innings so that others can score at a brisker rate. Generally, 30 runs made out of 15 balls is valued more than an 80 made out of 70 in the shortest format of the game. Under these circumstances, Kohli even struggled to find his place in the team as was the case of many batting greats like Steve Smith of Australia.
Kohli, going through a poor form for a long time also didn’t help his cause. Then experts continued to analyse about his century draught. Doubts also crept in about Kohli developing faulty techniques. Moreover, the lean patch continued longer than expected. Discussions were on that Kohli’s career is under threat and he should correct his techniques and quit T20 cricket to get his mojo back for the rest of the formats.
In the process, Kohli also lost his captainship. Cricket buffs also became familiar with a Kohli no one had known before. He spoke of his challenges with mental health. He admitted to faking intensity during matches. And then, as the lean patch continued, he went on a long break, where he did not touch the cricket bat for a month.
Subsequently, Kohli turned from a cricketing God to an ordinary mortal. When he returned, there were questions over his place in the team as an aggressive batting template was set by the new skipper Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid.
Kohi had to prove himself and start from the scratch again. Kohli had to face a sterner test against arch-rival Pakistan. The high-octane encounter was played on a spicy pitch against one of the fastest attacks of the tournament, in a ground of nearly one lakh spectators going delirious with the ambience of an India-Pakistan match. Under huge pressure, Kohli produced arguably his greatest innings of all time.
India were staring down the barrel at 45 for four after 10 overs, with its best batsmen back without troubling the scoreboard much. All-rounder Hardik Pandya was struggling and Kohli himself labouring to 12 runs off 21 balls, India had its back to the wall. To chase 160 runs for an improbable victory, the Men in Blue had to score nearly two runs a ball for half of their innings. That’s when Kohli metamorphosed into the undisputed king of Indian cricket.
There were various moments when Men in Green seized control, only for Kohli to wrest it back. Any rational person would have thought it would not last forever. Even a die-hard Indian fan would concede that, despite all the heroics by Kohli, it was not possible to win the match. With 28 runs from the last eight balls and Pakistan’s best bowler Haris Rauf in operation, the match was fully in Pakistan’s control.
However, Kohli had something different in his mind and the king of Indian cricket was in his elements. He then dispatched the next two balls, the kind of short length ones that batsmen had struggled to play all evening, into the stands. It was a kind of miracle as he could not explain those shorts later. Kohli turned it once again for India in the next over against Mohammad Nawaz and the rest is history.
Something unnatural was taking place that evening against arch-rival Pakistan and King Kohli was at the center of it. There was nothing manufactured about his high intensity that day. There was the genius of his batsmanship and exhibition of his self-belief. He punched the air after each of his shots and punched the turf after Men in Blue emerged victorious.
Life has taught the master batsman bitter lessons and he has decided not to rest on his laurels anymore. Kohli juggernaut is still rolling on. With three unbeaten briskly half centuries from four matches in the ongoing World Cup in Australia, the master batter is threatening the opposition all the time to take away the match away from them single handedly. Kohli still remains the best bet for the Men in Blue to make them triumphant in the T20 World Cup 2022.
Now, the million dollar question is where does Kohli go from here? Cricket buffs can only dream with certainty that Kohli isn’t done with the game. His hunger for runs is far more than before. The new Kohli has returned from rock bottom to achieve even greater glory in his illustrious career.