sports

Virat Kohli: In a league of his own

If you who follow tennis then you must be familiar with a certain bloke named Roger Federer. Renowned author David Foster Wallace had famously penned an ode “Roger Federer: As a religious experience”-highlighting the mercurial Swiss’s game style. The reason why Wallace chose Federer as his subject was the way Federer outplayed everyone in the 2006 season .

Although it is impossible to compare a batsmen with a tennis player but the way Virat Kohli has batted recently evokes the same emotion as the man whose game indecently Kohli follows quite routinely. When Kohli is in full flow the jaws drop and eyes protrude on seeing how the Delhi born batsman takes on the opposition full on. The 27 year old right hander who has already carved out a legacy for himself when it comes to run chases added another chapter to it on Sunday as he single handedly knocked out Australia who are the current champion in the 50 over format.

It’s not that Kohli has suddenly hit a purple patch this world cup but has continued his sublime form for the past 2-3 years. Virat has scripted so many epic run chases for India that one has to really scratch their heads to remember when was the last time that he failed with the bat for 2-3 consecutive innings.

Kohli or Tendulkar

Virat Kohli is not climbing the ladders of success, he is literally sprinting towards the summit and the rate at which he is broken numerous records, and comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar were bound to come up. To be honest comparisons between the two players is not fair because the two played in different eras. Yes the duo played shared the locker room for some years but then the master was in the twilight of his career and the apprentice was starting his journey in the cricketing world. While Tendulkar predominately played Test and One Day Cricket, Virat has been the mainstay of team India in all the 3 formats.

The major similarity that can be drawn between the two is that Sachin carried the hopes of a nation everytime he crossed the boundary rope towards the pitch and with his recent knocks that onus has now fallen on Virat Kohli.

Virat Kohli: the text book player

Virat Kohli is the closest one comes to real life coaching manual. His picture perfect drives are a sight for the connoisseurs of the game. He himself proclaimed that he isn’t a big hitter of the ball and so has to look for the boundaries but even without the big hitting he scores as quickly as his big hitting contemporaries.

Virat Kohli is not a typical Indian player he wears his heart on his sleeve and is not afraid to give it back to the opposition. He sweats it out in the gym and is a supremely fit athlete.  Infact the sledging only seems to add fuel to his fire. His mind goes into overdrive during run chases and the virtual quarterfinal against the Aussies was a perfect example of it. 3 quick wickets and a hobbling Yuvraj Singh at the other end didn’t dent Kohli’s calculations. Yuvraj and Kohli kept the scoreboard ticking but singles weren’t helping in bringing down the ever climbing runrate. It was after Yuvi’s departure that Kohli began to unleash himself. He along with captain MS Dhoni (who would have definitely given Usain Bolt a run for his one had he chosen track running) ran like there was no tomorrow. And when James Faulkner with whom he has had quite a few verbal duels came into ball in the third last over the Mohli crowd was gearing up to witness another Kohli special.

And when Virat Kohli plays like that there is just only one thing that everyone can do- Just watch him play.

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