A fortnight ago, Virat Kohli tweeted a picture in which he stood with the Indian Ocean behind him and the accompanying words were: “If only I could wake up to this every morning!! #Blissful”
His latest sojourn in Sri Lanka, though, has nothing to do with exuding the holiday spirit, as there is work to be done. Leading the team, scoring runs and seizing the series, are all part of his job-profile.
Yet that picture and tweet, issued from the team hotel at Galle, were reflective of his desire to find peace. It hasn’t been an easy prelude to the current tour of Sri Lanka with Anil Kumble’s resignation as head coach and the India captain’s role leading up to that move, causing unsavoury speculation.
Performance-wise, by his exalting standards, Kohli had a mixed run over the previous months. Leading Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, Kohli scored 308 averaging 30.80. Prior to that, in the Tests against Australia, he mustered 46 from five innings. Later he struck form in the ODIs. The proof being his runs in the ICC Champions Trophy and an unbeaten 111 against the West Indies at Kingston, in the last game of the five-match series.
Stepping into Sri Lanka, Kohli had to shed the cobwebs of the past and shepherd his team. Still midway in the tour (India plays five ODIs and a lone Twenty20 after the Tests), he and his men have prospered. The series has been nailed at 2-0 with just the third and final Test at Pallekele remaining to be played. And Kohli the batsman found his mark with an unbeaten 103 in the second innings of the first Test at Galle.
Seamless transition
After that knock, Kohli, when asked about his previous run-drought in Tests, replied: “I wasn’t looking at things from that point of view. I wasn’t certainly looking at things like how many innings I haven’t scored because when you are playing all formats, you don’t think which format you have not scored runs in how many innings. But it always feels good to get runs when the team wins.” Kohli, who seamlessly moves across formats, had a point.
He followed that century with a 13 at the Sinhalese Sports Club here and it also revealed a trend. His recent batting stints in Tests, reflect a big knock among a cluster of low scores. Sample this: 204, 38, 0, 13, 12, 15, 6, 3, 103 n.o., and 13. It is akin to what K.L. Rahul suffered during his early days in Tests.
Perhaps in the middle stage of his career, Kohli is at the tipping point with his Test average wavering between the late forties and early fifties. It is critical juncture that all batsmen have to endure after establishing their reputation, proving their mettle and also adjusting to the relentless scrutiny of their perceived chinks.
On the fielding front, he oscillated between being alert and athletic in the outfield and fumbling a bit in the close-in cordon. In the second Test at the SSC, he premeditated his moves at slips, and often ended up on the wrong side when a catch squirted past.
“On a pitch like that where it is slow, sometimes you stand ahead because you want to pick catches from the front and then when one big shot is played and the ball is bowled quick, then you suddenly look like you are not in position. I try to chip in but when I drop catches, it looks bad,” Kohli said.
A successful captain with a fierce combative streak, Kohli has a lot on his plate. Guiding his men, fronting up to the media and the relentless travel can take a toll, and it can get overwhelming for him to just focus on his core skills. Kohli has to find a balance.
At 28 he has time on his hand and as current coach Ravi Shastri said, “he is learning along the way.”
