Virat Kohli (Image credit: BCCI/IPL)
New Delhi: There are only a few matches that Virat Kohli will play on his home soil in Delhi. This explains the deafening clamor for clearances for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) weekday match against Delhi Capitals at the corridors of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA).From a reckless, non-conformist young man to a spiritually motivated statesman, the Kohli legend is a story of constant evolution. It is a non-stop process, and one that awes those who witness it firsthand. It has allowed him to compete alongside a younger generation that is rewriting the rules of T20 batting, a process that has helped him retain stardom even as a culture of anti-stardom has set in in Indian cricket.The IPL has transcended to a level where it is close to being called a different sport from what is played around the world. On Sunday, an astonishing 986 runs were scored in 77.2 overs in two matches. The relentless use of force, force, and physicality behind these events could rival the violence of any action movie.At the other end of the spectrum is Kohli who uses his bat as a magnificent piece of equipment that rips the morale out of bowling attacks bit by bit, time and time again.
Match by match.Even as the world recovers from Sunday’s bloody run-fest – which saw them chase down 265 and comfortably 229 – one must remember that it was Kohli who played the lead role in a comfortable 200-over chase against the Gujarat Titans the night before. The gold standard in batting in Indian cricket for the last 15 years, his legacy has quietly influenced the renaissance of contemporary India T20 batting.
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Unorthodox ramp shots, shovels and bold reverse sweeps/shovels are hardly seen in T20 cricket now. RCB captain Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal – RCB’s engine room in the middle – have redefined themselves as T20 batsmen this year who rely on traditional shot-making.
They spent the whole evening here in Kotla, hitting big on the ground. “I remember a few years ago, there were a lot of these and other unorthodox shots. Now, it’s about how players just check their drives. I would say people are focusing more on making sure that their regular shots have more power added to them in clearing the boundaries,” RCB guru Dinesh Karthik said on Sunday. That Kohli is still challenging India’s next generation of T20 batting stars for the Orange Cap (highest run-scorer) is a testament to his insatiable hunger for excellence.
Ironically, this is the form that left him on his debut in international cricket two years ago when questions were raised about his ability to keep up with the times.Now that the cricket world has embraced scores of 225 and above as the new normal for the IPL, Kohli has remained relevant and a perfect example to his peers around him.RCB mentor Dinesh Karthik puts it down to the man’s stubbornness in trusting his methods. “He comes back every year and evaluates what he did.
“He has come back with a very stubborn plan and he is implementing it not only on match days but in the way he trains as well,” Karthik said.“The guys in the team keep asking me what Virat Bhaiya does differently and credit to him for constantly reinventing himself with each passing year and credit to him for keeping up with the pace of this game where some of the new players are batting at crazy strike rates,” Karthik said.
