Virat Kohli - an untiring and relentless run machine
The Australians are stunned. They believed the game was in their pockets, but probably didn’t know the protagonist for India on that night is an ethnic Punjabi, and he wouldn’t put a foot wrong on the land of his ancestors. Mohali, one of the loveliest cities of Punjab, is the battlefield. MS Dhoni launches a full toss between long on and cow corner to complete the formalities, and the spectators go berserk. It was as if someone told them emulating the euphoria of the night of 30 March 2011, when the Indian Cricket team stormed into the finals of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 by defeating the arch-rivals Pakistan, on the same venue, is impossible. While the crowd’s on their feet, the night’s hero picks himself from his knees off the ground, and points to the heaven, in all likelihood to thank his superhero - late father (Prem Kohli) who made him what he is today.
This knock from Virat Kohli is on par with Sachin Tendulkar’s sandstorm in Sharjah, tweets Ravichandran Ashwin the next day after witnessing the masterclass from minuscule proximity. He further hails the knock as hailstorm taking into account the climatic conditions of Mohali then.
Having known Virat Kohli, and his mentality to take both success and defeat in his stride, it is safe to assume he was thinking already how to amass runs in the normally dry and flat Wankhede wicket against a team that had batsmen who could clobber the ball straight into the Arabian Sea, even before the Australians could have packed their bags to the Airport. Facing the West Indies in a T20I is an acid test for any top team in the world and the Indian team led by then captain MS Dhoni would've surely entertained thoughts of scoring 200 plus after being put in to bat first. Toss didn't go India’s way, and maybe it was a prelude of lady luck smiling on the Caribbeans that night. Once again, the onus of shepherding the team to a commanding total falls on the shoulders of Virat Kohli, as he walks into the middle early.
He runs like a cheetah between the wickets and finds the gap like a wizard to send the ball rollicking over the boundary ropes. No significant risks were taken, yet runs flowed smoothly from his willow. And, running became even faster the moment MS Dhoni joined him in the middle. The heat of Wankhede gets to Virat Kohli, and it was clearly showing with the way he gasped for breath. But he hung in. 89* (47), his final figures read, and India finished with 191-2.
Ask Jasprit Bumrah how difficult it was to grip the ball while bowling second in Wankhede during the IPL 2018 opener against Chennai Super Kings, and he would say: It is one of the most daunting tasks I had ever done. Such was the amount of dewfall. The lethal weapon in India’s armory - spin -was in great danger of impairment, as the dewfall began in the second innings. The grip which Samuel Badree enjoyed in the first half had vanished. And, that turned into a lifeline for West Indian batsmen, especially Lendl Simmons. He (Lendl Simmons) was in for a few more lifelines with him being dismissed twice on a no-ball and Ravindra Jadeja touching his foot over the boundary rope while catching a lofted hit. Who knows? If he had jumped off a cliff that day, he would have found his feet without any damage done. It was his day.
The ball slipped fast from the hands of bowlers and so was the game for India. Only eight runs were needed off the last over, and surprisingly, it was Virat Kohli at the bowling crease. Perhaps Dhoni thought the match is over already. Perhaps Dhoni thought Virat could manage to squeeze a successful over somehow, as the latter picked up a wicket earlier, in the process of part-timers rolling their arm over when the established bowlers' leak runs. Or maybe, he snatched the ball voluntarily from the skipper's hands thinking he could ride his luck one more time. Like the towels that absorbed the wetness of the ball all through the innings, Virat Kohli absorbs the pressure and gets ready to bowl.
The glimmer of hope that every Indian, including the eleven on the field, had, was shattered when Andre Russell manhandled the low full toss from Virat Kohli into the stands. That was it. The Caribbean Calypso starts, and Virat's shoulders drop. However, he’s no stranger to this. He saw his team crashing to a defeat against Sri Lanka in 2014 T20I World Cup finals with his name at the top of the leading run scorers list of the tournament. Two consecutive T20I World Cup (2014 and 2016) man of the series performance from Virat Kohli with the bat couldn't help his team lift the silverware.
This is one of the main impediments you face, being the premier most batsman of your country. You have to keep piling on the runs, irrespective of how things beyond your control pan out, and betray your disappointments in press conferences. Even the legendary Tendulkar and Dravid have been there. And Virat Kohli knows it better than anyone else at this moment.
If he does the bulk of the scoring for India in the forthcoming showpiece event - ICC World Cup 2019 in England, and God forbid, India lose, you might see him taking a guard with full of determination and seeing the ball from the bowler's hand with unwavering intensity, in the very next assignment. Paying no heed to yesterday's success and failure, and focusing on conquering tomorrow is the most significant hallmark of a champion, and he, Virat Kohli, undoubtedly is one.
