Dazzling strokeplay marked Virat Kohli's 58th List A ton in Delhi's Vijay Hazare Trophy opener against Andhra Pradesh.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The spotlight, as always, will be on Virat Kohli when a high-spirited Delhi take on Gujarat in their second Vijay Hazare Elite Group D fixture at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence Ground 1 here on Friday.
The calculated strokeplay that defined Kohli’s dominance over the last 15 years remains undiminished as the goods in his recent outings attest. The match against Andhra on Wednesday was another illustration of the form the right-hander is in at the moment. The 37-year-old scored a brilliant 131 (101b) as Delhi chased down a competitive 299 with great ease.
In the last five innings, Kohli has smashed two international hundreds, a List A ton and an unbeaten fifty each against Australia and South Africa, and it does fuel the notion that these performances are directed to those who question his place in the ODI set-up.
After the South Africa ODIs and before arriving in Bengaluru where there was an 18-day gap, Kohli was training with former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar in Mumbai.
He showed no signs of rust on Wednesday and went past Sachin Tendulkar as the fastest to reach 16,000 runs in List A cricket.
Kohli has been a master of the 50-over format and no newbie to criticism. He would hope to add another special to what has been a brilliant month, in his final game of the year and potentially the tournament.
While Kohli will have his own checklists to tick, Delhi captain Rishabh Pant’s lean patch in white-ball cricket has been a valid talking point in recent times.
The 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter has gone out of national reckoning in the limited-overs format, having failed to find his range. During the game against Andhra, after Kohli had laid the platform, it was an ideal opportunity for Pant to finish the game but walked back with just five next to his name.
The skipper will be keen to put on a good show in the tournament. After the Andhra game, Pant spent a good 30 minutes smashing balls down the ground, evidently working on his range-hitting. And the 28-year-old would hope that his practice turns into performance.