A rookie virtuoso

A sign of class often precedes mastery over craft. When the two blend organically, especially at young age, admiration makes way for awe. Virat Kohli’s innings of 112 (not out) had a similar magical quality. Perhaps, the gods of cricket were yearning for a magnificent spectacle and they chose Kohli to craft a masterpiece. They must have been stunned by what they witnessed at Kotla. And surely the young man himself will take a while to realize what he achieved.

The match had all the signs of a low-scoring game when the two openers were snuffed out at 29. And then a 22-year-old turned the match on its head with his liquid skill and remarkable maturity. Of course, in collusion with another player, Gautam Gambhir (84 not out), who was equally hungry to prove.

English bowlers were threatening to take control. Tim Bresnan had smartly plotted the downfall of Parthiv Patel and Ajinkya Rahane. From the other end, Steven Finn was regularly clocking 145 kmph plus on the speed gun and beating the bat with disconcerting frequency.

What stood out was Kohli’s extraordinary lack of nerve while walking into bat in front of the home crowd. Having missed out in the first Hyderabad ODI, he was determined to grab this opportunity. He quickly got down to business. The innocuous-looking singles and twos started flowing gently. There were no short mid-on or mid-wicket — Kohli’s areas of strength. Perhaps, the opposition had erred in estimating his prowess. And soon the English field-setting started resembling a leaking dam.

With a senior in tow, whom he has grown up admiring, the tattoo-loving Delhi lad shifted into cruise mode. The bowler’s identity and stature had become irrelevant. The delicate flicks of wrist and nudges now increasingly made way for breathtaking drives on either side of the wicket. Some of the cover drives had such a stamp of elegance and authority that the God-of-off-side, Sourav Ganguly, who was behind the microphone, was almost cheering like a child. The feet movement, the transfer of weight on to the front foot, the balance of the body, the arc that his bat made and the moment it met the ball — everything was made in heaven. Such precision and poise are not characteristic of this planet. On rare occasions, when the gods will, a very few batsmen attain such sublime period of batsmanship.

The hallmark of Kohli’s knock was the complete lack of risk in building the innings. It almost had the cold-blooded quality of a seasoned butcher taking a herd of lambs to a slaughter house. And a ruthless bottom-handed on-drive brought a perfect end — an emphatic 8-wicket victory. The fact that Kohli reached 1000-run mark in a year with this imperious effort was only incidental.

As a writer, I hope he stays hungry; he stays foolish.