World Cup 2019: 3 ways Virat Kohli has matured as a captain

2. Strategizing

Virat Kohli is cock-a-hoop as Afghanistan fall short of victory.

One frequent complaint about Kohli's captaincy in the past has been his lack of strategic fluidity in crunch situations. His predecessor MS Dhoni was also accused of that; India's semi-final exits in the 2015 World Cup to Australia and the 2016 World T20 to West Indies owed a lot to not finding a plan B at the right time.

With Kohli, the criticism was centered more around the idea that he had a lot of passion but a dearth of planning. The passion is still very much there, as evident from his appealing against the Afghans. But captain Kohli has brought a calmer head to the field in his quest to out-think opponents.

He himself said in the post-match press conference after the Australia win that the goal was to bowl straight and tight and wait for Australia to crumble under the load of a huge target. There was no attempt at forcing the issue and the Aussies, despite having wickets in hand, saw the required rate climb to gargantuan proportions as the Indians stuck to their plan. It paid off as the wickets began tumbling from the resultant desperation.

Against Pakistan, Kohli relied on the spin of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal to break partnerships. He also deployed the medium pace of VIjay Shankar and Hardik Pandya brilliantly.

Notably, Shankar wasn't used at all in the match against Afghanistan where the plan was to use the pace of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Pandya to bounce the Afghan batsmen out. The field placings - with a deep backward square leg and deep fine leg - were on point as well, as catches taken by these fielders turned the tide.

Kohli's field placements in the other games have also suited the bowling strategy of the moment to the tee - slips in with Yadav turning the ball away and Bumrah pitching it up, short mid-wicket as a catching position when Chahal is flighting the ball.