Virat Kohli as we all know is one of the premier batsman in world cricket. His performance across formats is a glorious tribute for someone like Kohli. He had one poor series in England in 2014 but atoned for that with a spectacular batting effort in 2018. Yes, his captaincy record in that series was poor but he has scored runs in all countries against all types of bowlers and in all the formats. Ofcourse one glaring omission in his profile is the absence of a world title. Having said that, there is a growing amount of animosity towards Kohli and batting efforts. People seems to point to his lack of hundreds off late. Is this criticism valid? Is Kohli less of a batsman because he has scored hundreds?
Does a hundred define a proven batsman?
It has been more than 40 innings across all the formats since Kohli’s last hundred. His last hundred was on 22 November 2019 when he scored 136 against Bangladesh at Kolkatta. Now is hundreds the only criteria towards a player’s contribution? Certainly not. Joe Root for example, failed to convert overwhelming majority of his fifties into hundreds but it did not make him a lesser batsman and it certainly will not make Kohli a lesser batsman. Some of his innings during this supposed lean period was worthy of a hundred. The 74 against Australia at Adelaide was a good example of his contribution. He concentrated so hard in that game that if not for that unfortunate runout, he would have certainly go on and scored a match defining hundred and possibly a daddy hundred.
In these 40 odd games, he has crossed 50 in close to 20 innings. In some of them he went beyond 70. These clearly shows that Kohli has not lost touch and that it is only a matter of time before he goes on and gets those huge hundreds. Nevertheless, lack of hundreds does not diminish the quality of Kohli the batsman.
Other not praiseworthy attributes of Kohli
Kohli certainly has other attributes that are not worthy enough on an international player leave alone a captain. His on-field behaviour is horrible. His aggressiveness towards opponents and at times towards the umpires is multiple match ban worthy. Most of the time, his team selection is baffling. He keeps on changing the playing eleven frequently. His stubbornness in supporting non-performers like Rahane. Kohli must be faulted for all of these but certainly not for his batting. Till this date and even in the future, he remains India’s primary batsman.
Bairstow given man of the series
In the recently concluded ODI series between India and England, Johnny Bairstow was awarded the man of the series. This was such a ridiculous decision. Yes Bairstow played that blinder in the 2nd ODI that tilted the game firmly in England’s favour. A few more over of Bairstow in the first game, he could have won England that game as well. Notwithstanding all that, does he really deserve to be MOS? I for one think that he does not.
There are multiple reasons
First, all the games were played on batsmen friendly pitches. It makes the bowlers impotent on such pitches. Just a look at the scores in all the games will reveal why neither Bairstow or any of the batsman must have been awarded MOS. Both the teams managed to score more than 300 in all the games. That showed how flat the pitch was and how easy was it to score runs.
Second, ODI rules are loaded completely in favour of the batsman. The white ball hardly moves. The margin of error on the part of the bowlers is extremely minimal. A foot outside off will be called a wide and anything even close to the leg stump is a wide. They are required to bowl a straight as possible and on pitches like this, the bowlers are like lambs to the slaughter house.
Third, the boundary as in tests has been brought forward but on a flat pitch with a white ball, it becomes easier for the batsman to score sixes or fours easily.
Who must have been the MOS?
It must have been one of the bowler. Shardul Thakur who picked up the most number of wickets and in 2 games, his wickets turned the game in India’s favour. Not to mention his vital 30 in the 3rd game. Kumar, for his miserly returns in all the games on such horrible conditions for the bowler. Mark Wood for extreme pace on such placid pitches and for keeping the Indian batsman quite in the initial overs. Anyone of these players should have bagged the man of the series award. They bowled and devised ways to make run scoring difficult for the batsman. It is time the game shows some respect for the bowlers.
Other topics related to Kohli can be read here, here, here, here & here