As India’s run chase was unravelling on Wednesday night, Virat Kohli sat just beyond the boundary, watching in despair. At one point, as yet another batsman joined the procession back to the dressing room, he buried his face in his hands. If only he’d stayed out there for five more overs; if only he’d not played that nothing shot to a nothing delivery; if only someone after him had kept his head. If only.
There was no doubt whose wicket Australia wanted the most in Canberra. Nowadays, there is one wicket all of Australia wants more than anyone else’. “After Dhawan went, it was all on Virat. We knew if we got Virat out the rest of the blokes were finding their way,” Kane Richardson said afterwards. Kohli has scored 373 runs in four matches this series, averaging 93.25. Each time he has come out to bat, he has not looked like getting out, treating the bowling like some irritant to be dismissed from sight.
In Perth, he fell trying to hit out towards the end; in Brisbane, he was run out (to an excellent throw, frankly); and in Melbourne, he was again out trying to accelerate at the death.
No bowler in the series can honestly claim to have got the better of him.
At the MCG, he became the quickest to 7000 ODI runs, leading M.S. Dhoni to say: “Nobody even talks about anyone else at that slot (three). There are other individuals who got to bat at various levels, but I don’t think they grabbed it the way Virat has. Definitely he is the best among the Indian batsmen, along with Rohit in the shorter format. He’s somebody who will take the team forward for a long time.”
Fine record
Wednesday’s hundred was Kohli’s 25th in one-day cricket. Fifteen of those have come batting second. Of them, 13 have led to an Indian win; only two have ended in defeat. Indeed of all his centuries, only four have come in losing causes.
Those numbers show how critical his contributions have been to India’s success; he is now — and has been for some time — the side’s number one batsman.
On the list of ODI centurions, Kohli stands only behind Sachin Tendulkar (49), Ricky Ponting (30), and Sanath Jayasuriya (28). Of all active cricketers with more than 10 one-day hundreds (there are only a few), nobody except Kohli is younger than 30. And he is only 27. Jayasuriya is in his sights now and Ponting’s record should be reeled in soon too. Where he will finish is anybody’s guess.
Australia may not love Kohli but there is respect for him here. Perhaps not just respect but awe.
On Wednesday, the Manuka Oval rose as one to applaud him off upon his dismissal. While many of the 10,922 in attendance were Indian fans, they numbered less than half.
As he walked off, Kohli and the crowd will have realised what his exit meant in the context of the game; it was fairly obvious.
There was no doubt whose wicket Australia wanted the most in Canberra. Nowadays, there is one wicket all of Australia wants more than anyone else’. “After Dhawan went, it was all on Virat. We knew if we got Virat out the rest of the blokes were finding their way,” Kane Richardson said afterwards. Kohli has scored 373 runs in four matches this series, averaging 93.25. Each time he has come out to bat, he has not looked like getting out, treating the bowling like some irritant to be dismissed from sight.
In Perth, he fell trying to hit out towards the end; in Brisbane, he was run out (to an excellent throw, frankly); and in Melbourne, he was again out trying to accelerate at the death.
No bowler in the series can honestly claim to have got the better of him.
At the MCG, he became the quickest to 7000 ODI runs, leading M.S. Dhoni to say: “Nobody even talks about anyone else at that slot (three). There are other individuals who got to bat at various levels, but I don’t think they grabbed it the way Virat has. Definitely he is the best among the Indian batsmen, along with Rohit in the shorter format. He’s somebody who will take the team forward for a long time.”
Fine record
Wednesday’s hundred was Kohli’s 25th in one-day cricket. Fifteen of those have come batting second. Of them, 13 have led to an Indian win; only two have ended in defeat. Indeed of all his centuries, only four have come in losing causes.
Those numbers show how critical his contributions have been to India’s success; he is now — and has been for some time — the side’s number one batsman.
On the list of ODI centurions, Kohli stands only behind Sachin Tendulkar (49), Ricky Ponting (30), and Sanath Jayasuriya (28). Of all active cricketers with more than 10 one-day hundreds (there are only a few), nobody except Kohli is younger than 30. And he is only 27. Jayasuriya is in his sights now and Ponting’s record should be reeled in soon too. Where he will finish is anybody’s guess.
Australia may not love Kohli but there is respect for him here. Perhaps not just respect but awe.
On Wednesday, the Manuka Oval rose as one to applaud him off upon his dismissal. While many of the 10,922 in attendance were Indian fans, they numbered less than half.
As he walked off, Kohli and the crowd will have realised what his exit meant in the context of the game; it was fairly obvious.
