There was a time, when no matter what happened on the field, as long as Sachin Tendulkar was there in the middle, India had hope.
That time is now past.
But the baton has been passed. Now, Virat Kohli evokes a similar feeling. The calm that he displays in the middle is unreal, and completely at odds with the personality that he is known to have. The only glimpse of the ‘brat’ was after Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit a six to win the match – that’s when Kohli let his bat do the windmill and the let loose a few choice profanities.
This is not to say that Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Cheteshwar Pujara batted badly. However, Kohli was simply in a different class at the moment.
India’s Kohli celebrates after India won the match and the series against New Zealand on the fourth day of their second test cricket match in Bangalore. Reuters
Rahul Dravid was in the commentary box for a while during the fourth day’s play and he was asked about Kohli. His thoughts were quite revealing.
“I have been following his career since his U-19 days. As he was a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore set-up, I have seen him closely. His talent was never questioned, but he did not have the mental discipline or the cricket smarts – if you want to call it that – to make that talent work.
“When you watch a young player first, you would like to see him again after a period of three or six months. You would like to find out whether he has worked on his mistakes or not. That gives you an idea about what they are learning.
“But I am glad he has learnt from his mistakes and has come up as an improved batsman. He had earlier issues about short-pitched stuff but he has now improved a lot,” Dravid said.
Indeed, the century in the first innings was remarkable not because of the 14 fours he hit, or the superb six that he hit over wide long on off Jeetan Patel. It was remarkable for the ease with which he constructed the innings. Most players who are just breaking into a team these days want to make an impression by hitting the big, spectacular shots. Kohli just wants to take his team to victory.
He had enough confidence to back himself and say that if he didn’t do anything wrong, the Kiwis couldn’t get him out. In stark contrast to Suresh Raina, who thought the only way to survive, was to hit the big shots and he didn’t succeed in the least.
In a recent interview, Unmukt Chand, who just won the under-19 World Cup for India, spoke about a conversation with Kohli.
“He told me that for the first three years, he didn’t quite know what was happening in the middle. It is only now that he has managed to figure out his game,” said Unmukt.
Virat Kohli was simply superb.
And with every innings in the middle, it shows. In 5 Tests in 2012, he has made 501 runs at 62.62. In 16 ODIs this year, 1026 runs at an amazing average of 73.28. In 4 T20 matches, 121 runs at 40.33. The numbers, whichever way you look at them, are stunning.
It also shows why Kohli is now the lynch-pin of the Indian batting line-up. He is the ‘main’ man. Not Sehwag; not Gambhir; not Tendulkar. It’s Kohli. Dhoni’s decision to stand by Kohli after his failures in Australia will probably go down as one of the best decisions he made as skipper. The right-hander made 11 and 0 in the first Test at Melbourne, 23 and 9 at Sydney but Dhoni kept his faith and aren’t we glad.
After the match, Dhoni showered the bowlers with a lot of praise but he didn’t forget about Kohli.
“There are two ways to play under pressure – you either hit out or soak up the pressure. Virat soaked up the pressure and he did that in both innings. I think he has a great temperament but he has to keep working on it.”
Kohli may never play like this again – but if he can somehow engrave these moments in his mind, you can be sure India will do more than just survive even without Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.
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Edited By Cen Fox Post Team
