Virat Kohli Makes A Statement

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Virat Kohli makes a statement.

In the 11th over of India’s innings against Pakistan, having been put in to bat, Mohammad Hasnain sent down a sharp short ball. Kohli got outside the line and creamed the ball fine, bisecting square-leg and fine-leg, neither of whom had the slightest chance as the ball rocketed to the boundary on the bounce. The short ball came, there was pace, and he was not backing down.

Virat Kohli makes a statement.

In the 13th over, Naseem Shah sent down a perfectly acceptable length ball. But, by the time the white sphere made contact with the pitch, Kohli had skipped down the track, given himself a touch of room and set himself up perfectly to lace the ball past the diving extra-cover fielder. The delivery was a good one, it could have been a dot ball, but here was Kohli turning it around in his favour.

Virat Kohli makes a statement.

In the 17th over Haris Rauf sends down a rocket at 151 kmh. It’s back of a length and asking questions on a middle and off line. At a time in the innings when batsmen are looking to thrash at everything, Kohli defends with the tightest technique. He’s going to be aggressive and fearless, but he is not going to be foolhardy and give his wicket away in bravado.

Virat Kohli makes a statement.

It’s the 18th over and Kohli is close to a half-century when Hasnain lands one outside off, but the batsman has already moved across, into position and positively slams the ball over midwicket to get to the landmark. Only the day before, Rahul Dravid had said that he did not particularly care if Kohli hit statistical landmarks. “For us, it’s not about how many runs he makes, and I know that especially with Virat people get a bit obsessed with statistics,” said Dravid. “It’s about the contributions he can make in different phases in the game.”

Virat Kohli makes a statement.

In the 19th over, the penultimate ball from Naseem is a yorker that Kohli digs out to the onside. He runs the first like his life depends on it, because he wants to be back on strike for the final ball of the over. After all, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is at the other end and he is unlikely to be able to take on the bowling. In searing heat, Kohli faced the second ball of the sixth over and has been out there till the very end. There has been no drop in intensity in running, whether it is running the first one hard or taking the second at the same speed as when the game began. 

Virat Kohli makes a statement.

In the 20th over, he was run out, charging frantically to try and keep the strike. Dicing full-length, after putting in the hard yards in insanely oppressive heat allied with humidity, Kohli is just short, caught out by a direct hit from the deep. His 60 has come off only 44 balls. If such a thing is possible, Kohli has both anchored the innings and scored quickly enough to not put pressure on others.

Virat Kohli makes a statement.

In the 20th over of their chase, Pakistan have got across the line, with five wickets in hand and one ball to spare. The current cross-border rivalry in the United Arab Emirates is 1-1, with the possibility of the two teams meeting in the final. At the post-match press conference, Kohli is asked how he got through recent months and who had backed him in the process.

“I can tell you one thing: when I left Test captaincy, I got a message from only one person, with whom I have played previously – that was MS Dhoni. Many people have my number. On TV lots of people give suggestions,” he said. “But whoever had my number, no one sent me a message. That respect, that connection you have with anyone, when it is genuine, it shows in this fashion because there is security at both ends. Neither does he [Dhoni] need anything from me nor do I  need anything from him and neither was he insecure from me nor I was insecure from him. If you give the suggestions in front of the world it has no value to me. If it is for my improvement you could talk with me one-on-one that I genuinely want you to do well. I live life with a lot of honesty, so I see such things. I am not saying that it doesn’t matter to me, but you see the truth. When you play for such a long time, with honesty, the one who gives is the almighty. Until I play, until I am worthy of playing, I will play like this only.”

Virat Kohli makes a statement.