India’s Virat Kohli bats during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final cricket match between India and South Africa at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP/PTI)
Right through this T20 World Cup Virat Kohli has come across as a different batsman. Opening the innings, he has looked to be more aggressive and until the final, had a string of low scores. In the final, as Marco Jansen delivered the ideal length, Kohli picked up three textbook boundaries giving India a flying start.
But the loss of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav would see the whole of India wishing for the Kohli of the old. The one that was called outdated in the format. One where Kohli drops anchor and lets others play the shots around him. And Kohli obliged.
That this came naturally to him meant even as Axar Patel quickly shifted his gears after steadying the innings, Kohli was content enough dealing in singles and twos.
In the middle overs he scored only 23 runs off 26 balls as he went without scoring a boundary in that phase. But India were not complaining as Axar counter-attacked at the other end.
Sensible? Yes, because right through this tournament, the loss of wickets in the middle overs has proved costly. So after scoring a boundary of Keshav Maharaj in fourth ball of the fourth over, the next boundary/six from Kohli’s bat came only in the first ball of the 18th over. Having scored 12 off the first 6 deliveries, Kohli got to his 50 in 48 balls. It was the innings that India needed from Kohli as it calmed the nerves in the dressing room.
But off the next 11 deliveries, Kohli would turn that knock into a gem, scoring 26 runs of those. In essence, this was the sort of knock nobody wanted from Kohli before the T20 World Cup began. But one that kept them in the game on the final as they searched for their elusive ICC title. Thanks to Kohli’s innings, Axar and Shivam Dube played those crucial knocks that flattened the South African spirits. The standing ovation to Kohli as he departed after making 76 off 59 deliveries said the approval.
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