Kohli; a cut above the rest
The stand-in captain warmed the hearts of cricket fans with his whole-hearted pursuit of an incredibly tough target
KARACHI:
Virat Kohli is presently the second most marketable sporting icon around the world and after his awe-inspiring performance at the Adelaide Oval, his stakes must have gone even higher.
The 26 year-old captained India for the first time in the longest format and while his team went down by 48 runs, the sheer tenacity and never-say-die attitude of the Delhi Daredevil is going to go down in the annals of the game as one of the greatest captaincy debuts ever.
Kohli hammered 115 in the first innings; the tally was compiled off 184 balls with 12 strikes to the fence.
But what he delivered on the final day of the Test topped even his first innings effort. After an overnight declaration, the Australians dangled the carrot perfectly, setting the talented Indian batting line-up 364 runs to chase in 98 overs.
The Adelaide track was turning square and Nathan Lyon was giving the ball an almighty rip with his fingers. Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara had departed early when Kohli walked in. The Australians, masters of mental disintegration, jumped all over the makeshift captain.
“Now we will see what you are made of” asked the close-in fielders. Kohli, always ready for a scrap, didn’t mind one bit. Soon he hit his stride and started unleashing powerful drives, delectable cuts and smashing pull shots both in front and behind square.
Not for a moment did it seem that the mountain of runs mattered much to the visitors. Murali Vijay was the perfect foil for his captain and the two closed the gap to the impossible in an extraordinary 185-run alliance for the third-wicket.
Kohli was painfully out of sorts in England, where the swinging ball made him appear more like a rabbit caught in the headlights than a frontline batsman but here reached the second hundred of the Test off only 135 balls; a strike rate many ODI batsmen would have been chuffed at.
After Vijay fell on 99, the hosts fought back with a flurry of wickets. Lyon was simply irrepressible from one end. But Kohli fought on manfully as the run rate never dropped. Only 60 runs were needed when the match turned on its head.
Kohli’s masterful knock ended as he ventured to clear the mid-wicket fence, the ball didn’t strike the middle of his bat and a tumbling Mitchell Marsh held on.
Soon after, it was all over as the tail failed to wag against the hostility of Mitchell Johnson and the guile of Lyon.
India lost but won a great deal of respect in Australia, India and even beyond. On a raging turner, the tourists fought tooth and nail and took the challenge of scoring at close to four runs an over on the final day head-on.
Kohli, the firebrand who often draws the ire of fans and pundits alike, warmed the hearts of cricket fans with his whole-hearted pursuit of an incredibly tough final day target.
Many Indian teams of past and in-form teams in their own conditions have pulled the shutters down on a chase on the final day of a Test.
Last month, Pakistan had the game for the taking at Dubai against New Zealand in the second Test. But the form batsmen who had been churning out centuries for fun, pulled the plug on the 261 run-chase in 70 odd overs.
On the other hand in alien conditions Kohli led from the front and almost snatched an improbable win for his team, cricket needs more bold characters like him.
Virat Kohli is presently the second most marketable sporting icon around the world and after his awe-inspiring performance at the Adelaide Oval, his stakes must have gone even higher.
The 26 year-old captained India for the first time in the longest format and while his team went down by 48 runs, the sheer tenacity and never-say-die attitude of the Delhi Daredevil is going to go down in the annals of the game as one of the greatest captaincy debuts ever.
Kohli hammered 115 in the first innings; the tally was compiled off 184 balls with 12 strikes to the fence.
But what he delivered on the final day of the Test topped even his first innings effort. After an overnight declaration, the Australians dangled the carrot perfectly, setting the talented Indian batting line-up 364 runs to chase in 98 overs.
The Adelaide track was turning square and Nathan Lyon was giving the ball an almighty rip with his fingers. Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara had departed early when Kohli walked in. The Australians, masters of mental disintegration, jumped all over the makeshift captain.
“Now we will see what you are made of” asked the close-in fielders. Kohli, always ready for a scrap, didn’t mind one bit. Soon he hit his stride and started unleashing powerful drives, delectable cuts and smashing pull shots both in front and behind square.
Not for a moment did it seem that the mountain of runs mattered much to the visitors. Murali Vijay was the perfect foil for his captain and the two closed the gap to the impossible in an extraordinary 185-run alliance for the third-wicket.
Kohli was painfully out of sorts in England, where the swinging ball made him appear more like a rabbit caught in the headlights than a frontline batsman but here reached the second hundred of the Test off only 135 balls; a strike rate many ODI batsmen would have been chuffed at.
After Vijay fell on 99, the hosts fought back with a flurry of wickets. Lyon was simply irrepressible from one end. But Kohli fought on manfully as the run rate never dropped. Only 60 runs were needed when the match turned on its head.
Kohli’s masterful knock ended as he ventured to clear the mid-wicket fence, the ball didn’t strike the middle of his bat and a tumbling Mitchell Marsh held on.
Soon after, it was all over as the tail failed to wag against the hostility of Mitchell Johnson and the guile of Lyon.
India lost but won a great deal of respect in Australia, India and even beyond. On a raging turner, the tourists fought tooth and nail and took the challenge of scoring at close to four runs an over on the final day head-on.
Kohli, the firebrand who often draws the ire of fans and pundits alike, warmed the hearts of cricket fans with his whole-hearted pursuit of an incredibly tough final day target.
Many Indian teams of past and in-form teams in their own conditions have pulled the shutters down on a chase on the final day of a Test.
Last month, Pakistan had the game for the taking at Dubai against New Zealand in the second Test. But the form batsmen who had been churning out centuries for fun, pulled the plug on the 261 run-chase in 70 odd overs.
On the other hand in alien conditions Kohli led from the front and almost snatched an improbable win for his team, cricket needs more bold characters like him.