Master Class in Cricket: What can be learned from Virat Kohli’s Indore innings?

 VIRAT KOHLI WILL next play for India in July in the UK. We will see him in action in IPL but that’s never the same as seeing him turn up for the national team. In the last four months, Kohli has given himself a second lease of life in the format of his choice. He was forever a brilliant 50-over player. Now, he has aged like fine wine. From the time be comes to the wicket, he is in control. A false shot induces a smile and within seconds, Virat is back to being focused on the next ball. Curating an innings and doing things to perfection, there is a lot that younger players can learn from him.

In sport, it is about attitude and self-belief. When Virat is fielding, you almost sense that he wants to be involved. At the same time, he is now conscious of his body and his game awareness is at a supreme level. In Indore, at the very end of the New Zealand innings, a ball was driven to long on. Kohli sprinted towards the ball from his position at wide long on but did not dive. He ran to the ball, picked it up and threw it back. The reason is not because of dearth of effort. Rather, in Indore, near the boundary rope, there are many barren patches and it is impossible to dive. If you do so, you risk picking up an injury and Virat, knowing full well that he has to stay injury-free, did what he did. While the effort was all there, he was also being smart.

With the bat, it was yet another master-class. Yes, he was unable to take India beyond the line, but what he did was give all his fans a clear belief that he is very much ready for the long haul and will target the 2027 World Cup in South Africa. Had his younger partners given him a bit more support, chances are Kohli would have chased the target down.

The pace at which Virat batted was also an exhibition. At no point did he let the asking rate go beyond his comfort zone. There was always the release shot round the corner and the running between the wickets was a real exhibition. In every sense, it was the perfect 50-over innings.

Going forward, the only thing Virat has to do is stay in the game. He just needs to find himself some game time and he will be fine. Take Virat in Australia last October. In the first two games, he failed to get going and as a result, he had looked scratchy in the third game in Sydney. It was about spending some time in the middle and the moment he did that, things fell in place. Against South Africa at home, be batted like a dream and carried the same form into the series against New Zealand. What he did right in the interim was play a couple of domestic games and that’s what allowed him the game time he needed. It is not about scoring big in every game.

But it is about being out there and doing the things that are part of muscle memory. Some of his trademark shots are etched in his subconscious mind and all he needs to do is rehearse them from time to time in match situations.

The World Cup is still 20 months away but it is almost certain that Virat will be a part of the team in South Africa unless he picks up an injury. He is still the best batter in the squad and the hunger is less to none. That’s what the others need to take from him and master. That’s what India needs to take into their T20 campaign. Despite the 50-over series loss to New Zealand, I am not really worried about India’s T20 World Cup prospects.

There are several proven match winners who are now back in the team and the hunger should be very different leading into the World Cup. Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy are all match winners and all of them are now back in the playing 11. Add Sanju Samson and you know it is a gun T20 outfit. All that I need to see in the team under Suryakumar Yadav is the skipper scoring runs and leading from the front. If he starts to do so, there is no stopping India. Surya, may I say, should just watch Virat’s batting in Indore. Just for the way he approached the innings more than anything else. Surya has the talent, he just needs the same resilience that Virat has shown since Australia.