King Kohli elevates his greatness to a new level

Ahmedabad: When Virat Kohli strode out at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium late March for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s pre-season camp, one could easily sense the renewed fire inside him. A place that he calls his second home, the 37-year-old timed the balls as best as he ever did and looked fitter than ever, showing no ring rust whatsoever despite having last played competitive cricket in the middle of January.

That insatiable hunger to always be the best whenever he holds a bat in his hand was visible in the season-opening clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad where he anchored a tricky target of 202 to perfection with a typically methodical 69 not out off 38 balls.

Initially when Devdutt Padikkal went berserk following the loss of opener Phil Salt in the second over, Kohli ceded the stage to the youngster. But when Padikkal departed after a fiery 26-ball 61, King Kohli went on a rampage to send Sunrisers’ bowlers on a leather hunt. That was the launchpad the talisman needed and since then the 37-year-old has not looked back.

He went on to accrue 675 runs — the ninth time in 18 seasons he’s gone past 500 runs — smashing one century and five half-centuries, including a pulsating 75 not out off 42 balls in the final against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

More than the volume of runs and his absolute mastery of chases at the twilight of a stellar career — both international and IPL — it was the manner in which Kohli scored them that showed his enthusiasm to keep innovating despite having played the sport at the highest level for two decades.

Kohli’s patented template in limited-overs cricket, even in T20s, was to bide his time at the start and then crank up the volume as the innings progressed. When it worked, it looked brilliant, but when teams failed, it appeared as an antithesis to modern-day T20 cricket, where batters, especially the top-order, come rushing out of the gates and look to maximise the field restriction in Powerplay. The era of building up was considered passe; bang-bang was the new normal, despite it carrying its fair amount of risks.

Kohli, who retired internationally from T20s after India’s World Cup triumph in the Americas, understood he had to sync his game to the new age to stay relevant. And he did so, not with a hell-for-leather approach, but in a calculated yet belligerent way. He picked the right bowlers or balls to attack and then got the singles or twos to maintain a high scoring rate. This season, Kohli scored at 165.85, 21.14 more than last season and a whopping 31.05 higher than his career average. His Player of the Match performance in the final was his fastest half-century in IPL, a record that even left the Delhiite stunned.

“Knew exactly what to do in the chase. Such is the demand from super young players pushing you to up the ante. Gives you something to work towards. I had to change my mindset, not my game so much, take on bowlers and get extra runs,” said Kohli at the presentation ceremony.   

Skipper Rajat Patidar was at a loss for words to hail one of modern cricket’s greatest batters. “If I speak about Virat Kohli, I don't have words to explain. He is used to doing great things. He is a great player; everyone knows him—the way he bats.”

The greatness of Kohli was never in doubt. Can he match up to the blistering power of new-age kids like Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and a few others was the question. Kohli has answered them emphatically and elevated his greatness to another level.