Bharath Ramaraj in Dubai
Tap and run – Those two words should be gilt edged and framed alongside Virat Kohli’s photo and kept in a showcase at ICC’s headquarters and the Dubai International Stadium. Somewhere 20 years later, when a group of students take an excursion of the stadium, or headquarters, they would get an inkling of Kohli’s masterpieces in ODI cricket.
Tap and run was also the lifeblood of how Kohli went about whittling away at Australia’s 265-run target in Dubai. He opened his account with a single to point. In the seventh over, there was another run stolen to mid-off. And just like that he reached his fifty off a mere 53 deliveries.
By the time Kohli was dismissed for 84, he had pinched 56 singles and four doubles, which included an extra run stolen via an overthrow. Even when India lost a couple of wickets upfront, Kohli didn’t deviate from his template. Simply put, Kohli’s batting-zone in ODIs is akin to a driver putting his car on auto-mode while travelling on a busy road.
Here, it has to be added that Kohli’s batting framework isn’t just about dinking singles, but he can also press the accelerator to turbocharge the engine. To illustrate the point further, just take into consideration Kohli’s believe-it-or-not innings while facing Lasith Malinga and Co., in Hobart, all those years ago. His first 20 runs consisted of a single boundary, but he ultimately ended up with a whopping 16 fours and two sixes.
Basically, Kohli seems to gauge the conditions and situation of the game quickly and executes his plans accordingly. Mike Hesson, who worked with him at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, said this to RevSportz: “Once he gets out there, he assesses the conditions well, makes that assessment of what shots are on, what shots aren’t. So, even though he might look like an instinctive player, he would have put in a lot of preparation into how his game might suit that particular surface, those particular bowlers.
“So, we all talk about the master chaser that he is, but he is able to navigate his side to victory depending on what the game pace is. He can read the game pace, and go up and down through the gears depending on what is required to navigate a side to a win,” he noted.
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Meanwhile, the microscopic lenses zoomed in on another crucial aspect of Kohli’s game-changing innings: The nous to manoeuvre the ball into gaps via square of the wicket on the off-side against Adam Zampa. Before the game, the one match-up that seemed to be a threat for Kohli was versus Zampa. The bedrock of the Indian batting unit had to find a way to read the length quickly in order to use the depth of the crease.
Kohli may not have collected a substantial portion of his runs square of the wicket on the off-side against Zampa. But the occasional single through that area off the leg-spinner helped to release the pressure of playing out a few dots.
There is one more query waiting to be answered. Is Kohli the greatest ODI cricketer? It is true that it is extremely difficult to compare ODI cricket across eras as the format has evolved and changed over a period of time. Having said that, it isn’t prudent to undermine Kohli’s records and numerous masterful chases. It is fair to say that he is the finest in the format.
Incidentally, Kohli has built those large edifices on simple fundamentals. The art of taking singles and twos in order to paddle through a sportsperson’s biggest nemesis – Pressure. In that context, the following words should indeed be a part of his framed signature: Tap and run.
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