The Master of Chases - Virat Kohli
- In Dispatch
- 08:10 AM, Mar 30, 2016
- Ekita Parmar
It's been two days and cricket fans all around the world are not yet over Virat Kohli’s magnificent knock against Australia in a must win match of World T20. It was like a quarter final with either facing elimination from the World T20 in case of a loss. After the fall of three quick wickets, Team India was under tremendous pressure and all hopes were on Virat Kohli and he didn't disappoint his team and his fans. He scored 82 runs from 51 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes while chasing a target of 161 and won the match for his team. This ensured a spot in the semifinal for India against the West Indies. It won't be exaggeration if one said that Australia lost this game to this man Virat Kohli.
This isn't the first time Virat Kohli has single handedly won a match for Team India. His Average in successful run chases in T20Is is an incredible 122.83. He has scored 737 runs at a strike rate of 131. In the last 10 matches that team India has won, his scores are 36*, 54, 57*, 72*, 50, 49, 56*, 41*, 55* and 82*. He has hit an incredible purple patch. He has been unbeaten 7 out of 10 times. It shows his ability and intent to drive India past finish line.
From the numbers and his scoring rate one might think of Kohli must be a basher or someone who shot selection is like a pinch hitter. But his batting doesn't comprise of many risky shots or cheeky ones. He plays conventional shots, finds tricky gaps, runs hard and is very aware of where the field is. In many ways he plays like an old school cricketer. His batting is a collection of some beautiful shots played around the ground. This so called orthodoxy of Virat Kohli's batting gives a classic touch to modern cricket.
Another great asset of Virat Kohli is his running between the wickets. Sunil Gavaskar often says, “Converting 1s into 2s and 2s into 3s is very important for long chases.” Kohli has learned this mantra by heart. He runs fast between the wickets and steals extra runs by putting pressure on fielders.
Virat Kohli has been in the news for losing his temper and prone to controversies off the field every now and then. But while batting on the field he remains quite calm no matter how high pressure the game is. No extravagant shots and no unnecessary risks. He plays low risk cricket but with aggressive intent. Even on difficult pitches, he makes batting look easy. He analyzes the score, target, conditions and goes about his game accordingly. Kohli has established himself as the ‘Master of Chases’.
Kohli has already scored 2994 runs with average of 44.03 in Tests and 7212 runs with 51.51 in ODIs. People say a batsman peaks is in his best form when he is around 30-32 years of age. Kohli is just 27 now and threatens to break all sorts of records. With this beginning, we can only imagine what Virat Kohli promises to achieve in this game as he progresses along.
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