Why Kohli is the King?

*Data correct as of 8th June 2021

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The Cricket Summer is finally in full swing!!!!

This year, the flagship series for England’s Men Team is a Five-match test series against the mighty India. With a population of over a billion people, you might be fooled into thinking pinpointing one star to focus on might be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

In this generation, there is truly one player which will draw the attention of the masses like other Sporting Icons such as Muhammad Ali, Tom Brady or Lionel Messi.

His name… Virat Kohli

THE FACTS: Dominance across all Formats

As we all know too well statistics can be manipulated to tell a story the writer wants to create. No matter which way you square it, Virat Kohli’s numbers highlight an outstanding talent. Since 2004, across all formats, Kohli has scored 22,818 runs averaging 55.79 at just over 80 per 100 balls. As the graph above shows, Virat is far superior to any other batter in the Top Ten with only Kumar Sangakkara scoring over 20,000 runs during this period. Another astounding factor is his consistency across these formats. As the table below highlights, Kohli is the only player to feature within the Top Ten Run Scorers across all three formats. His “Triple Green” threat suggests to me that he is a generational talent head and shoulders above his peers; something which I will continue to convey across this article.

King of the Chase

Amongst his mountain of runs, Kohli’s strength lies in limited overs cricket. In particular, his One Day International (ODI) form is unbelievable. Across 254 matches he has scored 12,169 runs averaging just over 59. Within his consistent excellence, Virat is known for his ability to thrive in the big pressure moments and play a true “captain’s knock” in seeing his side home while chasing down a total set. The data definitely supports this theory. If we break down Kohli scores in ODI cricket by innings, we can see that during the second innings of the game, he averages an astounding 68.08. This 37% improvement between batting first and chasing is only really matched by Shane Watson (see graph above) who is averaging a tick under 53 in the second innings. With the current trend of chasing within limited overs cricket being the favoured route for teams, having a player with these unparalleled statistics is a reason why India continue to have success in this format. Kohli’s temperament and love of competing makes him the most sought-after wicket in world cricket; which leaves many a captain, coach and team analyst tearing their hair out trying to find a way to reduce his impact on a game.

Ruthless

Test match cricket is a hard game:

a) The red test match ball does more than its white one-day counterpart; both through the air and off the pitch

b) Ground staff often prepare pitches that provide a greater reward for bowlers

c) It lasts five days. This tests anyone’s patience & mental fortitude

Therefore, when you’re playing well you need to capitalise!! As a batter this means scoring runs, heavy runs. Amongst current elite batters in the test game, there is no one better at converting Fifties into Hundreds then Virat Kohli. He is a whole nine percentage points higher than Kane Williamson, the number one test batter in the world. With a conversion rate of over half, teams know that if they can’t get Kohli quickly and early he is one of the most ruthless at scoring heavy, match winning knocks.

Rainy Night in Stoke, anyone?

Throughout this piece, we have established Kohli’s credentials as a run machine, a chasing master and a ruthless operator but have yet to touch upon his ability to do it all round the world. The map shows Kohli’s average across all formats by continent. As expected, he is incredibly successful in his home spin friendly conditions (61.62). However, potentially surprising to many he has exceeded fifty on the bouncy hard surfaces in both Australasia and Africa, a stark contrast to the Asian conditions. This highlights his versatility in batting in a modern game where the trend is to do exceptionally well at home but suffer amongst the partisan cauldron when going abroad.

One thing to ponder, however, is his record in England (Europe). Although his average is still in the 40s, a feat not matched by many, it doesn’t stack up against Virat’s high standards. Will Kohli manage to replicate his 2018 series form when last in England where he averaged 59.30 during the test series? Or will Anderson et al get the better in the swing friendly conditions of the green and pleasant land?

One thing is for certain, Kohli will draw the crowds and captivate the cricketing community like a Quentin Tarantino thriller.

I’ll be there… will you???