Give him a flat track, give him a slow track, give him a bouncy track, give him a skiddy track, tell him to cover drive in a mud pit or sweep underwater. There is nothing that Virat Kohli cannot do. Impossible doesn’t exist in his dictionary. And he can do that with unmatched panache while playing perfect cricketing shots. His follow through is copybook perfect and the sound of his willow is tantalizing. Even legend is an understatement for Virat Kohli.
I have watched the classic cricket of the 90s. I have witnessed the pace battery of Waqar and Wasim, The opening pair of Kirsten and Hudson, the wristy flicks of Mohd. Azharuddin, Massive sixes of Sourav Ganguly and of course the little Master beating the Aussies singlehandedly in Sharjah and destroying the career of Henry Olonga. But this knock by Virat Kohli is the best that I have seen. The way Virat Kohli paced his innings and executed the plan perfectly was a treat to watch.
Virat Kohli made a sublime 82 not out off 51 balls to lead India’s chase.
There isn’t a finer chaser in world cricket than Virat Kohli. He has left the likes of Michael Bevan and even his skipper MS Dhoni far far behind. The quasi quarter-final against Australia in Mohali had every ingredient of a great game. Although Australia’s pace attack was lackluster, Dhoni’s men progressed to a semi-final riding on the supreme performance of Virat Kohli
161 for victory was always an uphill task. At one point of time, India saw their required run-rate balloon up past 10 an over and for a brief moment even12 an over. But the master chaser Virat Kohli chased it with so much ease. His timing was perfect and the fourth-last over against James Faulkner was when he started hitting the leather ball all around the park. 20 off Faulkner and then 16 off the next from Nathan Coulter-Nile made sure that India pummel the formidable Aussies. With five balls to spare, India won it in style. And it was a one man show.
Generations will come and go. Records will be made and broken but the legend of Virat Kohli will stand FOREVER. FOR EVER AND EVER.