Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
For a moment, rewind to the India versus Australia semi-final in the Champions Trophy in Dubai earlier this year. India chased down a victory target of 265 in 48.1 overs, with Virat Kohli anchoring the innings via a 98-ball 84. The remarkable part of his innings was that he took 56 singles. Kohli has a healthy lead at the top for taking most singles in ODIs. According to the stats put out by different platforms, his singles count in that format had reached 5,870 after that game, way above Kumar Sangakkara’s 5,688, who stays a distant second.
Singles have been the lifeblood of Kohli’s batting in the 50-over format where he has scored 14,492 runs from 307 matches at an average of 58.20. He has 53 hundreds and 75 half-centuries to his credit. The ongoing series against South Africa is one where he has reinvented himself, even at this stage of his career. It’s been fascinating to watch.
Kohli scored 135 off 120 balls in the first ODI in Ranchi. Apart from the quality of batsmanship, it was a tactical masterclass. South Africa kept the in-fielders at least 10 yards inside the circle to deny him singles — Kohli’s ‘staple diet’ during the formative part of his innings. He went aerial, his innings having seven sixes. Delve deeper, and you would see how Kohli traded accumulation for aggression during the second powerplay, from 11 to 40 overs.
After 10 overs in that game, he was batting on 30 off 26 balls. At the end of the 40th over, he had moved to 132 off 112 deliveries. So, he scored 102 runs off 86 balls. In the second ODI in Raipur, Kohli moved from 13 off 12 balls after 10 overs to 102 off 92 balls at the end of the 39th over before he was dismissed. This is a different version of the master, in sync with the new ODI template, with 350 being the new normal.
Kohli doesn’t come to the post-match press conferences these days. He is long past the stage of presenting his case before the media after scoring a century. For us, the designated cricket correspondents, however, it’s a loss. It would have been great to hear directly from the man who is an eloquent talker and a master of analysing the game. The thought process behind the change would have been a terrific listen.
The 37-year-old, though, gave an insight into his preparations and batting approach these days after winning the Player-of-the-Match award in Ranchi, as he spoke to the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. “I have never been a believer of a lot of prep,” he had said. “All my cricket has been mental. I work physically very hard, as long as my fitness levels are up and then you visualise batting and feeling well, it’s good. I visualise the game a lot. When I think about the game, if I see myself being intense and sharp, I know I can relax and play out there.”
Like all great players, Kohli has made evolving with time his second nature.
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