Virat Kohli: The T20 superhuman
India were under the pump early on in the tournament when they lost their opening game against the Kiwis which made the forthcoming match against Pakistan a do-or-die battle.
Once again, outside of their comfort zone, the pitch at the Eden Gardens, the rescheduled venue, was a slow surface with plenty in it for the spinners. The rain curtailed match, reduced to 18 overs per side, saw Pakistan score 118 batting first.
Memories from the Asia Cup encounter between the arch-rivals came to the fore once again when Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Sami dismissed three of India’s top 4 inside the first 5 overs.
The deja vu, which was half-done till then, was completed by the man who had orchestrated the Indian victory in the Asia Cup as well, Virat Kohli, who played a mellifluent knock of 55 with 7 boundaries and a six.
On a slow surface, Kohli’s patience, temperament, and shot selection was put to the test and the Indian captain-in-waiting passed the examination with flying colours.
The adaptability from the flat tracks in Australia to surprisingly slow and turning surfaces in India was there for everyone to see, and that was the exact reason why the Delhi-born batsman carried the team into the semis almost single-handedly.
Kohli vs Australia: The magical innings
If against Pakistan he was magnificent, what transpired in the game against Australia was surreal and hard to believe. The match had all but slipped away from India’s hands, more so after Yuvraj Singh got injured midway, and couldn’t run to his full potential between the wickets.
Kohli, who had decided to play the anchor’s role was feeling the pressure as the doubles were being reduced to singles and the boundaries were hard to come by.
Yuvraj’s dismissal, however, changed things dramatically for India, and it was there that we saw how quickly Kohli could adapt and shift gears according to the situation.
While the beautifully carved out boundaries drew everybody's attention in the final overs, it was what happened before the 19th over- wherein Kohli had smashed Coulter-Nile for 4 fours- that shifted the momentum in India’s favour.
Kohli and the Indian captain, MS Dhoni, made sure that they made up for whatever runs were lost when Yuvraj and Kohli were batting by collecting as many as 6 doubles within the span of 4 overs, four of which came in one over- the 16th, bowled by Josh Hazlewood.
The Indian Test captain followed that up with a 19-run 18th over at the expense of James Faulkner and then bettered it with four boundaries in the next over to diminish Australia’s commanding position in the game within a span of 4 overs.
Such shift of momentum and the tempo was something unforeseen until Kohli made it happen.
New Zealand are the favourites
Not just these games, but some other games as well, such as the one between India and Bangladesh where Jasprit Bumrah bowled an excellent 19th over getting the yorkers in, and Afghanistan’s historic victory over West Indies, were prime examples of the need to adapt which was fulfilled by the players throughout the tournament.
So far, New Zealand have emerged as the best side of the tournament as they had in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 as they have remained unbeaten throughout the group stages. All they need to do is to make sure that they don’t falter in the final stages, unlike what they did last year.
The team has adapted to the Indian conditions even better than the Indians and the headline of NZ spinners winning their side a Cricket World Cup on subcontinental lands might soon be a reality.
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