It took a longwhile to come. 1020 days to be exact. The entire Indian nation counted the days when Kohli last scored a hundred. With each passing day without a hundred, the pressure on Kohli increased. People were ready to write him off. People who have hardly played the game, courting the selectors to drop him. Even the former players who had been there and seen it all, wanted Kohli to be dropped. They asked why is Kohli is given a longer rope than most not realising that some of them were given much longer rope than Kohli. Some like Gavaskar and Shastri wanted to help. When it finally happened, the whole country heaved a sigh of relief. Afterall, Virat Kohli is amongst the runs and it is refreshing.
Is Kohli back to his former self?
Anyone who had watched the way Kohli batted at the Asia Cup, would like to believe that Kohli is back to his former self. Yes, he struggled for timing in the first game against Pakistan. Yet, he was the joint top-scorer in that game. Except for that ugly hoick across the line against Sri Lanka, he never really struggled in any of the game. His fluency was there, the trademark shots were all there. It certainly looked like he is back to his fluent best. The scores are there to prove the point further. With the World T20 coming up and India not sure of qualifying for the WTC finals, Kohli’s runs will prove vital for India.
I have always believed that Kohli needs rest. He must be out of the game and out of the eyes of the public for awhile. I believed that it will do him a world of good. He has been through a lot over the last 15 months. First was the Adelaide humiliation. It would have devastated any captain. Kohli was in a sense lucky that he came back to India for the birth of his child. The fact that he wasn’t part of the victorious Indian team in Australia must have rankled him.
A time of great upheaval
He resigned the Indian T20 captaincy but continued to be the captain for the Test and ODI sides. Before the start of the IPL season, he announced that he will no longer be the captain of RCB. He failed to win the IPL despite multiple attempts. To make matters worse, India under Kohli exited in the first round of the World T20 in 2021. The absolute nadir was when India failed to win the series in South Africa. A series everyone expected India to comfortably win their first ever series in that country completed in utter disarray when Kohli alongwith Rahul and Ashwin was involved in screaming at the stumps.
Surprisingly though correctly, he was removed as the captain of both ODI and Test sides. In the meanwhile he had his own run-ins with the board president Saurav Ganguly with Kohli saying onething and Ganguly the exact opposite. All of these must have taken a heavy toll on Kohli. A lesser mortal would have by now left the game altogether. Yes, the Indian team is overworked. Most of the players are playing constantly.
Break that he much deserved
However, Kohli’s case is different. He was mentally affected and that showed in his form. It would have made perfect sense if he had asked for a lengthy break. He was given a month off. It is not clear whether Kohli asked for the break or was it the board’s decision. Nevertheless, Kohli had a short break. As Kohli himself agreed, the break rejuvenated him.
“Six weeks off, I was refreshed, I understood after taking a break how tired actually I was mentally and physically. Your competitiveness doesn’t allow you to take that call, but I think it was a blessing in disguise for me. I wanted to be the best version of myself for the team, and when I came here, when I started playing in the nets, I felt like my old rhythm was coming back. It was just about getting those performances in the middle again.”
“Personally, since I’ve come back from a break where I didn’t touch the bat for the longest time in the 13-14 years I’ve played, a lot of things were put into perspective,” Kohli told Rohit in a chat on BCCI’s official portal
The 71st
When the moment arrived, the 71st hundred, the usual angry celebration was not seen. Instead, it was replaced with a sense of relief. Kohli just stood there with alarm aloft, looked up at the sky, kissed the ring and acknowledged everyone in the ground. Talks about his lack of hundred will settle down. No one, including Kohli expected him to break the hoodoo in this format. This is perhaps his least favourite. Nonetheless, it is better to break the hoodoo somewhere. The highlight for me of his 71st century was the ferocious sweep of Rashid Khan. I have never seen Kohli play the sweep. I was under the impression that he cannot play the sweep. Now, I wonder why hasn’t he utilised this shot more often?
As Kohli approached the magical moment, the rest of the country did not bother that this was an inconsequential game and that India were already knocked out of the Asia Cup. All of us have waited for this for a very longtime. Everyone willed Kohli to get to that elusive ton. The small crowd at the stadium were treated to a masterclass. They were cheering Kohli on. When Kohli pulled the delivery over long on, the small crowd created enough noise to make up for the wide empty seats.
The image that will be etched in the minds of everyone who watched that game was that of an elderly gentleman in the background as he stood there applauding a truly magical innings bowing to The King.
Wrapping up Virat Kohli is amongst the runs and it is refreshing
The joy in Kohli’s batting looks to be back. Now that he does not have the captaincy related things to take care of, he can truly concentrate on his batting and once again become the all-conquering batsman.