The Virat Kohli who scored 50 off 40 balls against England in the T20 World Cup semifinal and the one that turned up last night at the Holkar Stadium were two different batters. The Kohli of Adelaide is long gone. Terms such as accumulator and anchor, which have weighed him down in the past, no longer exist in Kohli’s dictionary.
Slow against spin, you say? Nuh uh. Not anymore. Look at what he did to Mujeeb-ur-Rahman on Sunday night. An inside-out chip followed by a slog sweep. He scored 18 runs off seven balls at a strike rate of over 250. The stage was set.
Virat Kohli Cameo
Virat Kohli’s cameo… as what many are calling it, isn’t a surprise. It was a long time coming. Will Kohli play the same way if India are, let’s say 12/3, in a tricky chase? Certainly not. But which cricketer in a sane mind would? What is the one thing Kohli has always been expected to do when he’s in at one down? Tee off. Show intent. Get going. No more playing the waiting game. He did all that… and then some more with India chasing 173.
Virat’s Performance In Indore
Indore brought out something different. Kohli played 16 balls, smacked 29 at a strike-rate of 181 and got out. How is this the same guy who crawled his way to a half-century in his last T20I match 14 months ago? Well, the same way he lifted himself from the abyss in 2022. He is Virat Kohli after all, whom the legendary Clive Lloyd only two days ago, backed to ‘achieve everything he wants to’. And how he entertained the crowd last night, his message is clear.
Kohli’s IPL Performance
Kohli’s renaissance in T20s wasn’t an overnight process. In fact, it dates back to the IPL 2023, where Kohli racked up 639 runs at an average of 53.25, strike rate of 139.82 – his second-best season – and finished with two hundreds on the trot. His 100 not out off 63 balls (strike-rate 158.73) against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their den stands out as one of his classiest IPL centuries of all time.
Kohli’s career could be undergoing the same trajectory.