King Kohli is class apart from the rest

When totals in excess of 300 are becoming more of a norm than exception in ODIs, a low-scoring affair comes as a fresh breath of air. It makes for an equal contest between bat and ball, and you get to separate the good from the great, ordinary ones from the extraordinary.

When England couldn’t chase Sri Lanka’s modest total of 232 at Leeds, it provided a new lease of life to a tournament that was shaping up to pre-tournament predictions. The very next day, Afghanistan made the famed Indian batting line-up look quite ordinary as they restricted them to paltry 224 before falling agonisingly short of the target. On Thursday at the Old Trafford, West Indies’ attack exploited the two-paced wicket beautifully to restrict India to 268/7 which looked 15 runs short at the start of the chase.

Barring Virat Kohli, all Indian batsmen struggled to come to terms with the nature of the pitches in both matches, at best managing a scratchy innings. From Rohit Sharma at the top of the order to M S Dhoni at the lower end of the middle-order, they all found it hard to time the ball, play the strokes freely and a grip of the conditions.

Kohli, however, was a class apart. Though he didn’t go on to convert either of his half-centuries into well-deserved hundreds, he showed why he is the best batsman in the world across formats with innings that oozed class and confidence.

“I think Virat Kohli is probably the number one batsman across all formats. So, I think to compare anybody to the way he plays is not right,” said India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun when asked as to why others were struggling on the same pitches where Kohli looked so comfortable.

That’s a fair assessment perhaps, but the comparison does help in putting things in perspective. While it’s not to suggest that other batsmen are mere flat track bullies, it is equally true that Kohli, at the moment, is batting in a league of his own. There’s hardly any contenders to his throne. Whether it’s the conditions or the attack, he finds ways to get on top of them and get runs without much fuss.

Both at Hampshire Bowl and Old Trafford, he took the pitches out of equation, made a mockery of the sluggishness in the surfaces and handled the uneven bounce with ease.

“I don’t think he’s doing anything different,” said Rahul when asked how Kohli is making it look so easy. “He’s been doing the same thing for however long I can remember. Since the time he started playing cricket, this is what he’s been doing, performing consistently, and no matter what condition, what wicket condition, who the bowlers are, he always finds a way to get runs, always finds a way to put the bowlers under pressure,” he analysed.

When Kohli bats the way he does, it takes pressure off other batsmen who struggle to get going. Rahul, obviously under pressure to prove his credentials as a worthy replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan, could breathe a little easy and take his own time to get going because Kohli was doing all the running at the other end. Also, the bowling teams focus all their energies on the Indian skipper, helping his partner steal some boundaries.

“Batting with him just makes it a bit easier because the focus is on him and you can get away with some boundaries,” he pointed out. “And he’s been batting well and, like I said, I don’t think it’s just this tournament. I mean, he just keeps batting well -- IPL or Test cricket or T20 cricket or one-day international, he just keeps coming back and keeps putting those performances again and again. And that’s what is great to see and inspiring for us and the team to learn from him and probably understand and have the same kind of passion and go out every game wanting to do well for the country,” he offered.