BackVirat Kohli and the art of the run chase
For Kohli, who admittedly craves challenges, and situations that bring out his absolute best, this was just another opportunity to cement his legend as a master run-chaser, if not among the best ever
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New Delhi: At first glance, a target of 161 runs in a Twenty20 match may not seem that daunting. But add a sharp, in-form bowling attack (with runs on the board) and a slowing pitch to it, and the task gets just a touch harder. But from the time India’s number three batsman Virat Kohli walked out to bat against Australia on Sunday, there was a growing sense of inevitability about this run-chase.
Kohli’s innings began in the fourth over of India’s chase, a situation not unfamiliar to him these days, given India’s indifferent, if not shaky, start over the last few matches. India were 23/1 when Shikhar Dhawan was sent back, trying to hook a short ball from Nathan Coulter-Nile. For Kohli, who admittedly craves challenges, and situations that bring out his absolute best, this was just another opportunity to cement his legend as a master run-chaser, if not among the best ever. No exaggeration. And boy, he did.
You get a sense of Kohli’s innings by the way he plays out his initial 10-12 deliveries. There’s no panic, not one bit. On the contrary, there’s control. The first ball he faced on Sunday gave it away. Paceman Josh Hazlewood bowled one outside the off-stump, an area many opposition captains feel Kohli is uncomfortable with, especially early on. Kohli stretched right forward and calmly angled the face of the bat and played it to backward point. The next two balls from Hazlewood got Kohli going. The first, where Hazlewood bowled it full and around off stump, with Kohli just shuffling across to whip it through mid-wicket for four. The next one, was much better, given the line of delivery, again full and outside off, except this time Kohli had to reach for it, and open the face of the bat at the very last moment, to pierce the gap between backward point and third man. Importantly, he was totally in control, a keyword that sums up Kohli’s approach to run-chases.
While those two boundaries off Hazlewood got Kohli going, it wasn’t until the 12th over that another one came off his bat. Add to that a hobbling Yuvraj Singh, who injured his ankle immediately after he walked in to bat. But that didn’t deter Kohli either. While the partnership with Yuvraj was getting increasingly frustrating because of his inability to convert ones into more, Kohli didn’t panic. The temptation would have been to take a few risks and up the scoring rate. Instead, Kohli shepherded a wounded Yuvraj with a great deal of responsibility. The partnership of 45 runs may not have seemed big, but it was integral in setting up the final flourish, with the ultimate finisher in the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni yet to come. That partnership was key in “managing the chaos", to borrow Dhonispeak. One wicket then, and well.
With Kohli, what you get is immaculate game awareness or an innate, calculated ability to read and understand evolving match situations and react accordingly. This is one aspect of crease management where Kohli simply is the best, a few notches above his peers, or even those who graced the sport before him.
How? Virat exemplifies the art of the risk. In the 12th over, when Australia brought on Glenn Maxwell, Kohli seized his moment. He was batting on 20 off 20 balls. Remember the score.
The second ball of that over, he hit Maxwell for a six and mind you that was a mishit by his standards. He stepped out to Maxwell, slightly off-balance and lofted one to long-off. On other days, it might have well holed out to the fielder. But the timing on that shot was incredible and just took it over the boundary, clearing the fielder with ease. In that over, India plundered 13 runs (including the six). In case you’re wondering, the rest of the seven runs were through good old nudge and run, or what is cliched as risk-free cricket. Yuvraj followed suit the very next over, when he dispatched an Adam Zampa full-toss to cow-corner. All of a sudden the run-chase seemed back on track, although the required rate was well over 10 at that stage. With Yuvraj departing in the next over, thanks to a spectacular catch by Shane Watson off James Faulkner, Kohli was joined by Dhoni with India needing a further 67 off 36 balls. Many teams would have panicked at this stage, not India, and not these two. If anything, the on-crease duo have demonstrated the art of finishing matches, with Dhoni in particular making it a habit. He might well have a worthy successor in Kohli, whose legend in closing out matches is only growing by the day. There was an air of no-nonsense in what followed. Even clinical, as some might choose to call it. But for Kohli, it was time to move. And he chose his moment.
It came in the 16th over, when Steve Smith bowled Hazlewood out. While the first three balls of that over fetched four runs, two well-run twos, the asking rate was nudging around 12 an over. But that was Kohli’s moment. He stepped down the track to a short of a length ball, a perfectly good one at that and placed it in the gap between long-on and deep mid-wicket for four. That may have seemed like a release shot, but Kohli knew what he was doing, just choosing his moment and executing it with a lot of poise. He brought up his 50 off 39 balls, with the only ungainly shot of his innings—a controlled swat to the deep off Watson.
Kohli, though, wasn’t done yet.
Two overs later, in the 18th, when Kohli took it up a notch higher. Faulkner, with his pace variations, was quite the bowler most teams would have guarded against. Instead, he singled him out for some late treatment. The first ball of that over, he pulled a short one from Faulkner, just in front of square for four, with some incredible timing to boot. Next up, the square drive came out, another incredible shot to a full-ish almost yorker-like delivery. Kohli played that shot with utmost precision and stunning timing. The third ball of that over, was the best of the lot, in terms of the result. Another ball from Faulkner, just short of a length, and Kohli this time stepped out of his crease, and lofted it over the wide-ish long-off boundary, all with a straight bat. This is where Kohli’s impeccable control over his emotions come in. With 14 runs off the first three balls, it was back to hard running between the wickets. With another five runs from the next three balls, 19 runs came off that Faulkner over. India still needing 20 off two.
The 19th over in a run-chase is often where the last over is set up. A good over for the fielding side, and things can go a little hairy right at the end. Vice-versa for the batting side, and you end up leaving as little to get off the last six balls. Coulter-Nile, up until that over, bowled a fantastic spell. Three overs for 16 runs with the wicket of Dhawan. Coulter-Nile began well with a dot ball, but the next ball, he bowled a half-volley outside off stump, and Kohli with exemplary timing and placement, just square drove, almost sliced the ball through point. Four runs. And next ball, the pull comes out to one short on leg-stump from Coulter-Nile. With fine-leg up, that was four more for Kohli. The very next ball, Kohli unleashed a majestic lofted shot over extra cover for another four off a length delivery. A dot ball followed, but the last ball of that Coulter-Nile over, he brought out the cover drive with timing, precision and power for four. That was quite the sucker punch with Kohli on an unbeaten 82 off 51 deliveries.
Kohli’s innings was of the highest calibre, an absolute masterclass in crease management. For those watching in the stands and otherwise, Kohli’s ever maturing batsmanship was an absolute privilege. For Kohli, however, it is now the new normal.
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