THE MAN WHO WRITES HIS OWN SCRIPT

 

Image Credit: CricInfo.

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata (November 5, 2023).

Virat Kohli turns 38 today. The young promising lad of West Delhi has been dominating the world stage like no one else ever did before. Interestingly, today the king has reached a level wherein, with every innings of his, a record gets shattered. However, the same would not have been possible without the kind of game awareness he has. Virat Kohli knows how to craft his innings as per the requirements and situation of the game. Furthermore, he also understands against whom he should charge and against whom he should defend. In instances of a run-chase, his mind works even better, which makes him the ultimate chase master.

In this post, however, the author will be talking about one such innings which often gets side-lined when we talk about his batting genius. On 5th November, 2023, Indians were facing Proteas in the group stage game of the 2023 World Cup at the Eden Gardens. Unlike other cricketing venues, Eden Garden has always had something for the bowlers, which makes batting challenging. Even though Rohit Sharma started off aggressively, it was not an easy wicket to bat upon. Moreover, the Proteas too came back stronger and dismissed both the openers with the scorecard reading 93/2 in 10.3 overs. The game was at a very interesting stage when Iyer joined Kohli in the middle. One more wicket and Proteas would have got an upper hand in the contest. It was thus the need of the hour that the duo stitched a big partnership with someone playing the role of an anchor.

And Boy! What a magnificent knock Virat Kohli played on his birthday. Kohli stayed on the wicket for the entire Indian innings and scored a gritty 101* of 121 deliveries. Mind you, Virat batted for more than 3 hours, in which he hit just 10 boundaries and scored most of his runs by running between the wickets. It is because he understood that scoring on this wicket is not that easy, and it is better to capitalise upon the start given. Due to his game awareness, not only did India successfully play their entire 50 overs, but the batsmen at the other end were also able to play freely. Apart from Kohli, Iyer too scored a valuable 77, as the hosts posted an above-par total of 326/5 in 50 overs.

The run-chase was not going to be easy, and the manner in which the South Africans collapsed in front of the Indian bowling attack was unbelievable. The team which was hitting sixes for fun did not hit a single six in the entire innings and were bowled out for just 83 runs in 27.1 overs. The troika of Jadeja (5), Shami (2) and Kuldeep (2) ran riot as Indians won the game by a massive 243 runs. However, the most interesting thing was that the critics who were questioning Kohli for playing slow went silent when they saw the Proteas innings.

The genius of Virat Kohli outclassed everyone that day at Eden Gardens. As Mark Nicholas said it rightly, he is the man who writes his own script. Virat Kohli on his 35th birthday produced a masterclass which would never be forgotten.

To watch the Highlights of the Match, Click Here.