King Kohli ! Take a bow.
Third Test: Day 1 , Session 1.
It is the debut test for the Holkar Stadium at Indore. India bat. Again. Gautham Gambhir is back. Pitch looks fine to bat on. Gambhir is off to a brisk start. Two confident pulls bring two maximums. Few overs later Vijay and Gambhir depart. Vijay succumbs to a brilliant grab from Latham and Gambhir is trapped by Boult. New Zealand are disciplined in their bowling. They keep going on. Pujara, being Pujara, negotiates and frustrates. In walks the captain. Virat Kohli.
The third ball he faces, he cover drives Boult fluently for four. Its Virat Kohli fluent. With trademark authority.
Session 2.
Santner has been good the entire series. A shining light on a somewhat forgettable tour for the kiwis. Santner bowls a ripper to dismiss Pujara. In walks Rahane. And so it begins.
What followed wasn’t expected. The duo of Kohli and Rahane play. Ball after ball. Over after over. Session after session. They did it to the Australians at the MCG. They do it again to their neighbours.
The Captain:
South Africa came to India last year as the Number 1 Test side in the world. They left India beaten. Pummeled. 4–0. Most people attribute the victory to Indian spinners and South African batsmen’s inability to play spin well. Some blame the pitches. Almost no one recognizes the importance of Virat Kohli the captain. Virat Kohli’s on-field tactics were left un-noticed. His cunning field placements strangled the Proteas. No, not even the genius of Abraham De Villiers could escape it.
Indian captains learn these tricks, but Kohli did not waste any time doing so. In his first home series as captain, he got all the angles right and choked the life out of South Africa’s batting
Ajinkya Rahane is the best current Indian Test batsman overseas. His enviable record proves the point. For some reason, he hasn’t been able to achieve similar consistency in India. He looks good until he gets out. Every time. But this is different. New Zealand pepper him with the short ball. Rahane doesn’t look comfortable. Rahane negotiates the tough phase. Virat Kohli is at the other end. After each over Virat Kohli talks to Rahane. Asks him to forget about the previous over. Helps him negotiate the tough phase. Next day, Rahane is Rahane again. The Mumbaikar scores with relative ease. Virat’s partner in crime.
Virat Kohli inspires his team through his performance. He mentors them. He moves the team forward. Brings out the best in them.
The Batsman:
The year began well for Virat Kohli. In the pink of form, he dominated the West Indies in West Indies. His dominance continued in limited overs tournaments to come later.
This series, Virat Kohli the batsman, looked tired. He looked jaded. Played false shots. Was too tentative. Scores read 9,18,9 and 45. New Zealand knew he was due. India knew he was due. Virat Kohli knew he was due.
In the earlier part of his innings, New Zealand bowl well. They keep the ball in the right areas. Nag him outside off-stump. New Zealand throw everything they have at him. But this is a different Kohli. He is sure of himself again. He’s sure outside off-stump. He’s sure he’s going to make runs.
As the first day progressed, you could see Kohli getting more and more comfortable. More adamant to score. He was willing to score at a slightly slower pace than usual. He was prepared to grind some tough moments out. He wasn’t prepared to give away his wicket.
Patience. Grit. This one aspect that Virat Kohli has added to his game could prove to be of immense importance. Perhaps it is the captaincy. Or perhaps it is the influence of Anil Kumble. He could be the Krishna to Virat’s Arjuna.
Virat Kohli of 2016 just looks more focused. Spookily focused. With a steely resolve and a deadly stare. When he bats and is in control, there is little one can do as an opposition. He made a mockery of records in the IPL. He almost won India the World T20 single-handedly.
Virat’s patience has already reaped him two double centuries this calendar year. Two doubles as captain. Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and the likes couldn’t do it. Virat Kohli has done it in his first year as captain. Remarkable.
As Jarrod Kimber aptly puts it; “ The Sachin Tendulkar era is behind us. We’re in Generation Kohli.”
Sure, there are many more matches to come. Many records to be broken. But, India as a Test team look strong. They look stable and could also do well in conditions abroad. Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble have a long way to go still. It is said keeping the crown is tougher than gaining it.
For now, Take a bow. King Kohli.