In today’s 2nd match of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Sydney, India’s top 3 line-up of Rohit, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav scored different fifties as India easily defeated the Netherlands by 56 runs. Virat Kohli, who singled Pakistan out on that day, started calmly in this match as well, then rose up to score a brilliant half-century and remained unbeaten.
His innings is an indication that this T20 World Cup belongs to Kohli and shows that Virat Kohli is gearing up for another big 2nd innings not only in T20s, ODIs but also in Tests. Virat Kohli’s form recovery is even more dangerous for the opposition than his old form.
Virat Kohli, anchored by one and two until Rohit Sharma was there, did not hit a boundary in the first 21 balls. Not taking any risks, at the end of the innings he scored 62 not out with 3 fours and 2 sixes in 44 balls, which means Kohli who scored 20 runs in the first 21 balls and then 42 runs in 23 balls was almost coming close to Suryakumar’s strike rate.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli put up a partnership of 73 runs, Suryakumar Yadav got down to it and hit the last ball for a huge six with 200% strike rate of 51 runs in 25 balls with 7 boundaries and a six. He and Kohli combined to smash 95 runs in 48 balls The Netherlands were never able to reach India’s target as India finished on 179/2. Axar Patel, Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh took 2 wickets each for Netherlands to finish at 123/9.
Is this Kohli’s trophy?: It was no big deal that Kohli scored 2 fifties in a row, one of these two on the Melbourne Green Top Ekiru pitch. Today he bowled a relaxed start with no risk then action, that too finding the gaps and bowling with precision. This is a wake-up call to the opposition that Kohli will be a dangerous player in whatever form the match comes.
When the ball is fresh on the Australian pitches, they need to be calm and aggressive with patience, which is why any team should choose to be aggressive in the last 10 overs, which Kohli has done precisely in these 2 matches.
Virat Kohli is really the best player in death overs. That’s why Virat Kohli’s strike rate is similar to that of death over specialists and hitters, even if he plays a bit like this in the beginning.
Also, Kohli’s innings seems a bit slow in conditions like India and Sharjah, where 200 runs can be won, but chasing 160-62 on Australian pitches is difficult. So here Kohli chased in detail against Pakistan, and against Netherlands he played a planned 180 turn, let’s stand till the end anyway.
And in all the innings where Kohli swung around the bat like a sword, he never swung. Even here Kohli could return to batting again if he puts up a 200-run pitch next, with his confidence now in form and that too will go hand in hand.
And Kohli knows Suryakumar Yadav will surely hit if he gets down, so he stands and swings, then swings. He has so far proved that Kohli’s performance is the best on this Australian pitch, given the size of the ground. But depending on the strength of the opposition, it is better to score runs a little faster when batting first. Kohli also knows this and is following the same path. Hence the hope that this will be Kohli’s trophy and India’s trophy as well.