What makes Virat Kohli the best batsman in this World T20
Before we go any further, lets define the three parameters of this topic.
Virat Kohli: A genius who transforms himself into a celestial being when he spots the word TARGET.
T20 cricket: A format of cricket where roller-coaster is the most abused term in a commentary box. It is a frenetic format with more twists and turns than an Abbas-Mustan film.
Chasing: pursue in order to catch or catch up with. Courtesy: freedictionary
First let's talk about chasing and Indian cricket. If you remember the 90s, you would remember all the middle order wobbles of our team and our fantastic ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Those days India would always wish they had a finisher like Michael Bevan in their ranks. He batted in the middle order then, assessed situations brilliantly while chasing, ran like a hare and pulled out the big shots from his repertoire only when needed.
After a decade or so, India did go on to have someone similar to him, in-fact better than him. Mahendra Singh Dhoni with his ice cool temperament and excellent leadership qualities wrote new chapters everyday at chasing targets. Similar to Bevan, Dhoni batted in the middle order and finished games on a consistent basis.
But what separated Dhoni from Bevan was the former’s ability to hit big sixes in pressure cooker situations.
Later under Dhoni’s captaincy a Delhi boy, who initially came across as cocky and brash, blossomed and has gone on to become India’s greatest cricketer post the Tendulkar era.
Virat Kohli has always enjoyed chasing and some of his stupendous knocks in the 50 over format bear testimony to that and hence, it comes as no surprise that he has repeated those exploits in the shortest format of the game as well.
T20 cricket has grown a great deal since it was first introduced in England in 2003 and in 13 years, it has seen many exceptional performances by some star players, both domestically and internationally. Kohli already has a mind-boggling number of T20 International fifties (15 and counting). He was in tremendous form in the last T20 world cup in 2014 and seemed to have continued from where he left off in Bangladesh, two years back.
What separates Kohli from the likes of Bevan and Dhoni is that he is a top order batsman who is a FINISHER. A no. 3 batsman who finishes games regularly! How many cricketers can do that? In T20s, his already preposterous average reaches a godly 123 when India are set a target. The key here is the number of times he stays not out till the end while taking his team through to the finishing line.
Virat Kohli’s stats in T20I while chasing
| Span | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 2010-2016 | 43 | 40 | 12 | 1641 | 90* | 58.60 | 1214 | 135.17 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 173 | 32 |
| When Chasing | 2010-2016 | 22 | 19 | 9 | 918 | 82* | 91.80 | 692 | 132.65 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 93 | 16 |
| Indian win while chasing | 2010-2016 | 17 | 15 | 9 | 737 | 82* | 122.83 | 562 | 131.13 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 72 | 13 |
He obviously has the insatiable hunger for runs like all successful batsmen do, but what drives him during these tough chases is his calm temperament beneath that aggressive demeanour. He is completely unflappable and sticks to his game plan even when mortals like us get the feeling that the wheels are coming off.
His game is initially built around singles and running hard between the wickets. His supreme fitness allows him to convert the ones into twos. This is the Bevan aspect of his game. He is extremely sound technically and his game has evolved with time. After starting out as a pre dominantly leg side player, he now possesses one of the fiercest cover drives of all times.
Needless to say, he has worked extremely hard in the nets ironing out those offside flaws that were exposed in that disastrous England tour couple of years back. He also doesn’t change his game much with changing formats of cricket. He still continues to amaze the purists with his penchant for playing orthodox cricket shots in the T20s. This is where his aptitude meets his attitude. His ability to shock his opponents with some unbelievable yet conventional stroke play is already a part of folklore.
And now comes the mental facet of his game. His mind works like a computer while chasing stiff targets. Kohli always says in those post match presentations that while chasing he likes to count the overs remaining and not the number of balls. He likes to keep it simple. That helps him remain calm even when others feel the scoreboard pressure. This is the Dhoni aspect of his game.
Maybe Kohli is alien to the word pressure. Maybe Kohli himself is an alien from someplace else but lets leave that discussion for some other day.
He is revered by his teammates who call him the chase master. Just the ability to produce something special time and again under immense pressure is what separates Kohli from the rest of the cricketers on this planet. Time to doff our hat then to the growing legend of Virat Kohli. Time to sit back and enjoy the Kohli era. Virat, more power to you!!