5 reasons to prove Kohli has revolutionized T20 cricket

Jun 14, 2016 at 5:06 PM

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5 reasons to prove Kohli has revolutionized T20 cricket

Virat Kohli dominated the World T20 earlier this year to such an extent that he was unanimously named Player of the Tournament for amassing 273 runs at an average of 136.5 and a strike rate of almost 147. He then took that form straight into the IPL. However, in the end, the IPL trophy again eluded him.

But no one can deny Virat Kohli was the player of IPL 9. Not because he hammered an astonishing 973 runs in 16 innings at an average of 81.08 and a strike rate of 152.03. But because the 27-year-old RCB skipper displayed what can be perfectly termed as the Virat Kohli school of T20 batting.

Without even making any sacrifice in the aesthetics and grammar, Kohli was able to push the frontiers of modern batting and actually revolutionized the craft this year.

Here we have identified five possible reasons to justify that Kohli has become a T20 revolutionary.

Openers can be finishers too:

Top 5 knocks in a losing cause

For India, he generally bats at no 3. Be it the Asia Cup or T20 World Cup this year, the Delhi batsman often guided India to triumph. However, this season for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kohli has regularly batted at the top.

What was interesting to see was, being an opener hasn’t forced him to stay away from his near-obsessive style of staying not out until the end. It’s a fact he couldn’t win the final but just remember before that, be it the pursuit of Delhi Daredevil’s modest 138 (Kohli 54 not out) or Kolkata Knight Rider’s tough target of 183 (Kohli 75 not out) or Pune Rising Supergiants’ challenging 191 (Kohli 108 not out), he has made a habit of staying on until the end. Right through the chasing act, he looks to be well in control with complete clarity in his mind how he would employ the proceedings to achieve the end.

He is doing the same thing what finishers in the middle-order used to do earlier . And in adapting this style, Kohli has been able to take the opener’s job to a unique level. That’s why Ian Chappell, who always chooses his words with care, called him, “the finisher of all time.”

Centuries are no longer a rare feat:

Virat Kohli

In early years of the T20 format, 30 used to be the new 50. And 50 became equivalent to a century. 100s were very rare. Even in a competition as long as IPL, a batsman was satisfied to post a solitary century. Expecting anything more was like asking for the impossible.

Kohli has destroyed this mindset. In IPL 9, he hammered four centuries – 100 vs Gujarat Lions, 108 not out vs Pune Supergiants, 109 against Gujarat Lions again and 113 vs Kings XI Punjab. Unbelievably, the last ton came in a rain-curtailed 15-over-a-side match. Thanks to Virat Kohli, century is no longer a rare T20 landmark.

Created a new formula for T20 batting:

kohli vs australia

What’s most incredible is that Virat Kohli has also brought with his brilliant batting, a near fail-safe formula for the shortest version. To minimise the risk and maximise the percentage of success, Kohli is batting on a simple principle – singles and twos are also as much important as fours and sixes. To achieve this objective, he has decided to take running between the wickets to a new level. And to run hard throughout the innings as he does now, Kohli’s fitness level probably has reached close to a world top 10 tennis player. Obviously, enjoying his prime form, he has also dispatched 38 sixes in the recently concluded IPL. But the point is quite clear, sixes and fours are not the foundations of his game.

It is not just the runs:

Batsmen with most T20I runs in a calendar year
You have look into the manner also in which runs have come. After a magnificent run in Asia Cup (which he almost single-handedly won for India) and T20 World Cup (where he was equally consistent), he has continued to keep raising his game. Every time you watch Kohli you feel like he has nothing left to improve. And every time you are proved wrong.

What’s amazing, and this has been gone through time and again, that he achieves all this accolades without even making a mockery of the coaching manual he has followed throughout his career. His shots are right out of the textbook. Kohli’s wrists can blend art with power. And the arch of his willow always there to deliver batting lessons in geometrical precision for the young generation.

A penchant for batting grammar, a fetish for consistency:

Kohli

 

AB de Villiers has brought some serious improvisations to T20. When in the mood and on song, he is like a cyclone. Even Kohli regards him, the best in the world. On the other hand, Chris Gayle’s batting is about fully frontal assault, a brutal power. When in the mood and on song, Gayle comes up with the ruthlessness of a dictator on the 22 yards. And the best thing with Kohli is that he can blend de Villiers’ improvisations and Gayle’s ruthlessness into his batting is always in the mood and on song right now.

In 2016, he has actually given new meaning to the word, consistency, with his batting masterclass. These were his scores in IPL 9: 75, 79, 33, 80, 100, 14, 52, 108*, 20, 7, 109, 75*, 113, 54* and, believe it or not, a 0. In the final he again scored a brilliant 54. As you can see, the centuries didn’t come at the cost of consistency. Kohli has fired seven other scores of 50 or more.

 

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