Feb 18: There was something different about Virat Kohli at the Adelaide Oval on February 15. Actually, there were several things different about him at a venue that he can now claim to have made his own with a third international ton in three innings this Australian summer.
For one thing, the lynchpin of the Indian batting wasn't at his very best. He has called his 22nd One-Day International hundred, the first by an Indian against Pakistan in World Cup cricket, 'perhaps one of the biggest in my career', but this was no dominant, eye-catching Kohli masterpiece.
For another, Kohli didn't get angry. He didn't snarl and gripe and thirst for a fight. He actually smiled. A lot. More than he has ever smiled on a cricket field, probably.
He didn't leap up in the air and let loose a string of expletives when he reached a memorable, milestone hundred. He merely took his helmet off, sank into the arms of Suresh Raina, and acknowledged the cheers from every section of a packed stadium dotted extensively by colourful Indian fans.
When a throw from Shahid Afridi pinged him on his backside as he completed a sharp single, Kohli again smiled. He didnt break stride, his face didn't contort into a mask of rage and indignation. He recognised a cricketing accident for what it was. Unlike earlier on this tour, when he took offence to a Mitchell Johnson throw on his follow through during the Melbourne Boxing Day Test.
Then, with the match won and lost, he engaged Sohail Khan in the first verbal battle of a long, tense but surprisingly uneventful evening. Again, while the tall Pakistani paceman was close to losing his shirt, Kohli was beaming. Broadly. And, finally, with Umesh Yadav settling under the catch that sealed Indias sixth successive win over Pakistan in World Cup history, Kohli was a picture of composure, delighted at the result but keeping his oftentimes volatile emotions well in check.
Kohli is one of those figures on the cricket field that magnetically draws attention. Sometimes by accident, but sometimes by design too, and especially when he gets into oral confrontations that he invariably seems to be a part of. But whether you love him, like all Indian fans do at most times, or whether you hate him, like most Australian fans appear to at all times, you simply can't ignore him.
On Sunday, Kohli faced one of the bigger tests of a career that has just gone up and up since his second coming as a Test cricketer. As the vice-captain of the team and one of only four surviving members from the 2011 World Cup-winning team, he had to set the tone. This was no Sunday backyard game; this was India v Pakistan, the first match each for both sides in a brand new World Cup, a game where victory and only victory was acceptable to fans from both sides of the border.
Normally, this is precisely the kind of stage on which you would expect Kohli to revel. But the last month hasn't exactly been normal so far as Kohli was concerned. After a fourth hundred of the series in the Sydney Test a little under five weeks back, the runs had dried up. In four games during the tri-series with Australia and England, he had scores of 9, 4, 3* and 8. In the two warm-up games against Australia and Afghanistan respectively, he was dismissed for 18 and 5. His place in the batting order was discussed threadbare. Should he bat at No. 3 where he has had great success? Or should he come in at No. 4 where, despite having even better numbers, he isn't entirely at home? Should he be exposed early to the swinging ball in the event of one opener falling cheaply? Or, being the best batsman in the side, should he be given the responsibility of seeing off that little period and then doing what he does best?
Mahendra Singh Dhoni repeatedly emphasised during the tri-series that it wasn't about the number in the batting order, it was about the state of the match. Overs bowled. Nature of surface. Behaviour of the ball. No matter. Most of what he said fell on deaf ears. Only one thing registered: "I know individuals love to bat at a certain slot. If you dont have people who can float around in the batting order, it becomes very difficult." It was construed as a direct barb at the man who has succeeded him as Test skipper, and will do so not too far from now in the limited-overs game too. More grist to the team mein daraar (rift in the team) rumour mills. 'Ha!', Dhoni must have said, and Kohli must have replied, 'Ha indeed', MS.
His success on Sunday can and perhaps will be attributed to his batting position, but if cricket were just a matter of No. 3 or No. 4, how simple it would be. Kohli walked out in the eighth over with the ball not quite swinging around, but with the bounce a little variable, with stroke-making not a very prudent option. Then again, seeing Shikhar Dhawan bat, you wouldn't have guessed that. Himself out of sorts for the last couple of months, Dhawan was striking the ball beautifully. Kohli, by contrast, had to battle his way through a tough early part, and even as he built his innings brick by careful brick, you never ever sensed that he had the bowling at his mercy.
And yet, he scored at a perfectly acceptable clip. This wasn't a free-flowing, boundary-ridden hundred. Only seven fours in the 100, but made off only 119 deliveries. Dropped on 3, dropped again on 76 a little after having played his part in Dhawan's run out for a fluent 73, but never losing sight of the larger goal. The constant in consecutive stands of 129 and 110 with Dhawan and Raina respectively, content to play second fiddle as the two left-hand batsmen took the fight to the opposition. No ego, no competition with his mates. Mature Kohli. Team man Kohli. Magnificent Kohli. Not so much for the quality of stroke production as his approach. There were some stunning strokes alright, primarily off the legpsin of Yasir Shah, but the entire package was even more stunning.
"Virat batted really well. Every game, according to demands and the behaviour of the wicket, you have to alter your game. Virat did that," gushed Dhoni later. Not just lip service there. But hang on, listen to Kohli too. "My role in the team is to bat through (the innings), and the power-hitters can play around knowing that one end is secure." Don't bet against him batting through the innings, one end secure, and himself turning on the class and the power and the booming boundaries in the near future.
For Kohli and India, Sunday was just about the perfect day. So much had been riding on the result, apart from the fact that this was a match against them India were winless since arriving in Australia in late November. So much had been riding for Kohli — he is the kind of player who, if he begins a tournament or series well, just gets on a roll and becomes impossible to stop. Both boxes ticked. "I hate to lose, I play passionately," Kohli told us — ah, we didn't know that, did we? "I like the expectations. The last couple of days have been too tough, too many people in the hotel getting worked up. You just have to stay in your little space."
Kohli did that brilliantly. Gradually, his little space expanded, and it gobbled up Pakistan.
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