A touch of magic and an innings for the decades
As the curtains came down on the Mumbai Test and England suffered the inevitable, the number one team in Test cricket consolidated its stronghold.
When Cook and his men struggled in Bangladesh, England’s high-profile Test tour of India seemed a foregone conclusion. But the proceedings at Rajkot seemed to indicate otherwise. As the tourists pushed India to the wall in the first Test, we wondered if a repeat of 2012 was in the offing.
But these concerns were rubbished away at Vizag and with the hosts 3-0 up after 4 Tests, normalcy has indeed returned.
It was good to see Test cricket return to the Wankhede - 3 years after the great Sachin Tendulkar called it a day in his 200th. People came in numbers to support not just the Virat Kohli-led team but also to appreciate the brand of cricket that was on display.
This win at Mumbai was probably one of the greatest wins for India. And I was fortunate to watch it from close quarters. Being a purist, I admire the grind that Test cricket offers.
It was fascinating to see fortunes fluctuate as the Test match ripened. But the essence of it was on the 3rd day, when ‘King’ Kohli took centre stage.
Superlatives aplenty for Virat Kohli
"Brilliant", "tremendous", "outstanding" - these are just some of the superlatives that are synonymous with the India skipper. Every time he steps on the ground, he creates the buzz - very similar to the one that Sachin Tendulkar created. Amidst the chanting of the crowds and the occasional jibe of the fielders, Kohli finds his zone unlike no other.
But his knock of 235 was just unreal. How can one describe an innings of that stature? It was pure magnificence. The innings oozed with class, patience and self-restraint. Let’s go a little deeper into it.
The back and across trigger movement to get into a great position just prior to the ball being released; head invariably in the correct place ensuring perfect body balance - irrespective of front or back foot; the meeting of the with the bat; the contact point under the eyes; the awareness of the field and the match situation; the stoic defence; the usage of the wrists to pierce the gaps in the field - all of these tenets of great batsmanship were on display.
The sight was truly magical. And I watched tongue-tied, as greatness unfolded before my eyes.
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It was one of those days where you can proudly say "I was there to watch it". This innings of Kohli should rank amongst the best on Indian soil - in the same bracket as GR Vishwanath's 97 against the West Indies at Chennai; Sunil Gavaskar’s 236 not out against the same opposition at Chepauk; Sachin Tendulkar’s hundred against England right after the 26/11 attacks and the famous 281 from the blade of VVS Laxman at Kolkata.
The beauty of these knocks are that they stay in the hearts and minds of cricket lovers for decades. And Kohli’s knock at Mumbai will surely be talked about for years to come.
For, when Kohli walked into bat on a lovely Saturday morning, India were 254 runs behind England and when the shadows engulfed the Wankhede outfield, he had ensured that India were 51 runs ahead as he left the field unconquered on 147. Such was his class and dominance.
Kohli’s ‘partner in crime’
While we heap well-deserved praise on the Indian skipper, there's another cricketer who's risen to unimaginable heights in the past 24 months - Ravichandran Ashwin. He is well and truly Virat's partner in crime and has rekindled the art of spin bowling in India.
Ashwin has been a revelation and through him, traditional off-spin is back in vogue. The two very prominent aspects of the off-spinners that he is sending down are ‘flight’ and ‘spin’. The pace at which the ball is being released in the air is truly mesmerising. As is the case with the revolutions being imparted on it.
Deception is the oldest trick in the spinner’s book - and many great spinners have employed it with variations in length and flight. No doosras, no floaters, no arm-balls but pure old-fashioned off-spin. Ashwin has employed this to great effect through much of the series thus far.
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And those that achieve great success lay emphasis on the basics while casting aside all things ‘flashy.’ Kohli didn't lift a single shot in the air till he reached his double hundred and seldom did Ashwin employ the ‘carom ball.’
That tells you a story in itself. Regardless of where a cricketer finds himself in the wide spectrum of proficiency - on top of the world or just starting a career - if the basics of the game stand covered, success is bound to come calling.