K L returns in resplendent style

Even as Ishan Kishan cheered K L Rahul on from the dugout, he must have had a realisation - even if faint - that he might have to wait his turn a bit longer. Not just on Monday, but in the future too because KL Rahul is back. 

After all who can deny the Karnataka batter a spot in the World Cup squad, or any squad hereafter, after a knock of such poise and poignance against Pakistan at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo?!

Kishan did find his spot in this playing XI because Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of this clash due to a back spasm on Sunday. Perhaps then it’ll be Iyer who does the waiting going forward, but the fact that Kishan gave up his gloves to Rahul after the seventh over was cogent. 

Either way, India slotted Rahul at No. 4 and he repaid the oft-reproached faith placed in him by the team management with a delectable 111 not out from 106 balls.  

On most days, the way in which Rahul returned after a six-month break from international cricket would have been the talking point for several reasons. But when you have Virat Kohli at the other end, the chances of him turning into a human highlight reel are perceptibly high. 

It was a scratchy beginning by his standards, but Kohli is rarely about breakneck starts. He has always been about mesmerising finishes, and so it was on a rain-affected reserve day of their Super Four Asia Cup tie. 

A deft push towards third man had Kohli sprinting towards the other end as if he hadn’t run 36 singles and fifteen twos prior to that. His oh-so-typical dash marked his 47th One-Day International century, an eye-watering 122 from 94 balls, and now he stands two shy of equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s 49-ton record.  

Kohli probably didn’t know this at the time, but the two runs he had sprinted before this memorable single had earned him a front-door entry to the pantheon of ODI greats: the exclusive 13,000-run club.  

Besides joining the likes of Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, he also became the fastest to the mark (in terms of innings) by getting there in just his 267th outing, while it took the previous leader - Tendulkar - 321 innings. 

So typically Kohli to change the very metric by which greatness is measured.  

In the midst of all this returning, record-breaking and character-building for Pakistan, India put up a humungous 356 for 2 in 50 overs, and Babar Azam’s men were restricted to 128 for 8 in 32 overs after Kuldeep Yadav’s fifer. This meant India would walk away with a 228-run win after Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf were absent hurt.  

While the win itself was inspiring, the two knocks - one of immediate significance and another of historical consequence - couldn’t have come at a better time for India because there was still some ambiguity regarding their top five, a confusion which intensified when Rahul was injected into the playing XI at the last moment on Sunday. 

Perhaps the management reckoned he should sit out another game to allow full recovery of the right thigh post-surgery, but nearly 24 hours after the game resumed after being pushed to the reserve day, Rahul’s class earned ready approval from each of his team-mates and physios alike.   

Minutes later, Kohli leapt off the ground to celebrate his greatness and just as quickly came back to ground to take a bow.  There was this moment, though, as he walked back to the non-striker’s end: he shook his head vigorously while a smile of disbelief remained plastered on his face. One can only assume what that wispy, but powerful sight meant, but it sure looked like Kohli was acknowledging the gods for having given him a gift.

Greatness, as the ‘demi-god’ he is in pursuit of had said once, is not only about god-given talent, it’s about much more. Whatever that ‘much more’ Tendulkar was referring to, Kohli has it. Of that, there is no doubt. You don’t need three more centuries from him to establish that.

Cut-off box - SCOREBOARD
INDIA
Rohit c Ashraf b Shadab 56
(49b 6x4 4x6)
Gill c Salman b Afridi 58
(52b 10x4)
Kohli (not out) 122
(94b 9x4 3x6)
Rahul (not out) 111
(106b 12x4 2x6)
Extras (NB-1 W-8) 9
TOTAL (for 2 wkts 50 overs) 356
Fall of wickets: 1-121 (Rohit) 2-123 (Gill). 
Bowling: Afridi 10-0-79-1 (w-1) Naseem 9.2-1-53-0 (w-1) Ashraf 10-0-74-0 (nb-1) Rauf 5-0-27-0 (w-2) Shadab 10-1-71-1  Iftikhar 5.4-52-0. 
PAKISTAN
Zaman b Kuldeep 27 
(50b 2x4)
Imam c Gill b Bumrah 9 
(18b 1x4)
Babar b Hardik 10
(24b 2x4)
Rizwan c Rahul b Shardul 2 
(5b)
Salman lbw Kuldeep 23 
(32b 2x4)
Iftikhar c&b Kuldeep 23
(35b 1x4)
Shadab c Shardul b Kuldeep 6 
(10b)
Ashraf b Kuldeep 4 
(12b)
Afridi (not out) 7 
(6b)
Naseem and Rauf (absent hurt)
Extras (LB-3 W-14) 17
TOTAL (for 8 wkts 32 overs) 128
Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Imam) 2-43 (Babar) 3-47 (Rizwan) 4-77 (Zaman) 5-96 (Salman) 6-110 (Shadab) 7-119 (Iftikhar) 8-128 (Ashraf). 
Bowling: Bumrah 5-1-18-1 (w-2) Siraj 5-0-23-0 (w-2) Hardik 5-0-17-1 (w-1) Shardul 4-0-16-1 (w-1) Kuldeep 8-0-25-5 Jadeja 5-0-26-0. 
Result: India won by 228 runs. 
PoM: Virat Kohli.
India’s next match: v Sri Lanka (Colombo Sept 11).