Virat show getting bigger & better

Tribune news Service

Chandigarh, January 16 

Virat Kohli doesn’t hit the ball in the air unless he feels there’s no other option, so the first six he hit last night in Pune, off only the fifth ball he faced, was more a statement of intent than his need for quick runs. The score was 15/1, only five overs had been bowled, and Kohli had the time to construct his innings at his own pace. Yet he skipped out of the crease in a premeditated manner and struck fast bowler David Willey over the wide long-on boundary.

Kohli later said that he wanted to show intent — that he wasn’t intimidated by the huge target of 351 England had set, or by the horrible start. “The only way you can come out of such a situation is to counterattack, that’s why I play at No. 3,” Kohli explained later.

It became much worse, of course, as India slumped to 63/4 in 11.5 overs. Yet, Kohli said he remained confident. “Kedar started hitting the ball, and I said to him if we get to 150/4, they’re going to push the panic button, just watch!” Kohli laughed later.

‘I didn’t do this!’

Kohli struck five sixers in his 122 last night, none more amazing than the one he hit off Chris Woakes in the 34th over — the ball was short of a length and Kohli, on back foot, drove it high over long on. He was asked if he himself is surprised by the shots he often hits. “I can recall many moments when I felt like ‘I didn’t do this, I don’t know how it got executed’,” said Kohli. “If you’re thinking team, team, team all the time, you end up playing shots or doing things you don’t quite believe before achieving them. When you are in momentum, you’re able to play the kind of shots that, if you’re in pressure, you won’t be able to play. It’s as simple as that.” Each time India have chased over 350 to win an ODI, Kohli has smashed a century — against Australia in Jaipur and Nagpur in 2013, and now England last night.

‘No distractions’

Kohli also let out one of the secrets that make him the cricketer he is. “Luckily, I don’t have too many people in my life I am close to. I think that helps. If you have too many people and too many friends you speak to, you get distracted and your time management becomes impossible,” Kohli told bcci.tv. Another philosophical nugget he chose to share was that one should not limit one’s ambition. “I think, somewhere as sportsmen, we somehow limit ourselves to what we do without even knowing how much we can do. That’s something I never put a limit on,” he said. “I always love to explore my maximum ability... I never put any limitations on what I want to do in life. You just got to create a good balance and move forward.”

Sachin’s numbers

Can he match the extraordinary records of Tendulkar? “I might not play that long (24 years). 200 Tests, 100 international centuries. Those are incredible numbers and will be impossible to achieve,” Kohli said. “But yes, I want to make a difference and always believe that I must leave the game on a better note.”

‘Jadhav left me in awe’

It’s almost impossible to match Virat Kohli in his strokeplay when he’s in full flow, let alone outshine him. Kedar Jadhav, still a rookie in the Indian team, did exactly that during the course of his match-winning 76-ball 120 on Sunday. “What a terrific innings by Kedar... Brilliant knock. Hats off to the shots he played. Even I was in awe,” said Kohli. The skipper said it was one of the best calculative innings he had ever seen. “He tackled the pacers really well, and put a lot of pressure on the spinners to keep them out of the game. He’s another guy who believes we can win from any situation.” Jadhav, who was adjudged Man of the Match, said his was a knock inspired by Kohli’s several magical knocks while chasing. “I could play this long because of Virat. He has done it so many times, showing how to chase big totals,” said Jadhav, who suffered cramps towards the end of his innings. “Running with Virat is tough. Cramps are fine now and I am feeling better now.” Jadhav’s knock clearly took England by surprise and skipper Eoin Morgan minced no words in admitting it. “We did not expect Jadhav to come out and play like that. Credit to him, we take our hat off to him. He was striking it from ball one and gave us no chance,” said Morgan.

Talking technique

Kohli also decoded his technique that led to his downfall during the 2014 England series where he failed to get a 50-plus score in five Tests. “The problem was that I was expecting inswingers all the time and opened up my hip. I was constantly looking for the inswingers and was in no position to counter the outswingers.” Talking about the changes he made after the England tour, Kohli said, “I ensured someone was recording me from the side. Every time I played the ball, I wanted to make sure that my toe was pointing towards point rather than covers, that’s how I kept my hip nice and side-on and gave myself room. I also widened my stance so that I have good balance when I wanted to go forward,” he said. Although it looks natural now but Kohli said that it wasn’t easy at the beginning. “This change has become easy now but it was not so at the beginning. I was batting three hours a day. I had cramps in my forearms by the end of the week. I did that for about 10 days,” the captain said. Kohli said the forward movement was something Sachin Tendulkar also advocated. “Sachin told me that I have to approach a fast bowler just like you approach a spinner,” revealed Kohli. “You got to get towards the ball and give the ball lesser chance to move around and trouble you. That advice helped me and became my second nature.”