The ‘Virat’ show

Flashback mode: In 2011, India hosted the ICC World Cup (50 over format) and emerged as champions after 28 long years. However, their journey was not a smooth ride to begin with. After crossing the knock-out stage they met Australia in their quarterfinal match. Four-times champion Australia were a hard team to beat. But nothing punctured the spirits of the team and India sent the Kangaroos packing in a mouth-watering clash in Ahmedabad to book a date with arch rivals Pakistan in the semis and as we know the rest in history.

Cut to present: India are again playing host for the ICC World T20 tournament and India has set its date with Australia in a virtual quarterfinal match at Mohali. It’s a do or die game for both the teams and whoever wins will play the semi-finals with the in-form West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. History repeated itself and India again defeated the Australian side to move ahead in the tournament.

What is common between both the situations? Some might say the same opponent; some might say Dhoni the captain; some might say Yuvraj Singh but above all these common factors there are two strong individuals whose contribution could not be ignored and paved the way for India. In 2011, Sachin Tendulkar contributed with its majestic 53 runs and set the tone for the match. Today, Virat Kohli- The ‘New God of Cricket’ chased down the target of 161 and guided its team to another victory single-handedly.

Have India got a replacement for Sachin Tendulkar? Is Kohli the new ‘God of Cricket’? Can he surpass the record set by the legend himself? All these questions are being raised by everybody but according to me-There is only one Sachin Tendulkar and only one Virat Kohli. 

Summary: The IS Bindra Stadium had geared up for the clash between the Men in Blue and the Kangaroos and with a packed stadium behind them India had to go for the kill. Having lost the toss India was put in to field first. Usman Khwaja got off to a flier and expressed their intent straightway. They have been and continue to play the aggressive brand of cricket. At the end of the power play over, Australia piled a score of 59/1 and was looking towards a target of close to 200. However, the Indian bowlers pulled things back and started taking crucial wickets at regular intervals to put a break on the scoring. After the bowlers went for plenty in the first six overs, Jadeja and Yuvraj picked up crucial wickets and kept the Australian batsmen quiet. Bumrah and Nehra were spot on at the death too and prevented Australia from getting an improbable total. From 53/0 in four overs, India did well to restrict Australia to 160.

Looking at the track everybody knew it would not be an easy chase and the Indian openers had to rise to the occasion and perform if India needed to move ahead in the tournament. They got off to a steady start but after showing some promise Dhawan fell 13 on Coulter-Nile’s delivery. In came Virat Kohli and raised the hopes of every Indian that he can chase this one down as well. Kohli and Sharma continued manoeuvring the bowlers and squeezing in the runs. But Watson playing his last match of his cricketing career did not wish to bow out without a fight. In his first over itself, he removed Sharma and Raina and made the chase all more difficult with run-rate creeping up with every passing ball. Kohli stuck at the other end patiently and the next batsman to come in was Yuvraj. A crucial 45-run stand was stitched between both the batsman but an injured Yuvraj was dismissed at 21 by Faulkner (having strained his ankle in the first over itself he came in to bat). 

Top-notch running from these two men

 

With the run rate now have climbed 12 runs per over the captain came in to bat. Both the batsman had their job cut out for them. Dhoni and Kohli began running hard between the wickets and converted the ones into twos and twos into threes, which did not happen with Yuvraj since he was injured. With India needing 59 from the last five overs, Kohli had cut loose and dismantled the bowling attack of the Australians. First, he took Faulkner to the cleaners and then made light of the chase by targeting Coulter-Nile next. After having scored 82 from 51 balls the master of chases had guided his team again to a victory and as we no match is complete without Dhoni hitting the winning runs and this came true in the match as well as Dhoni finished it off in style by hitting a powerful six in the first ball of the last over taking India over the boundary line. India had beaten Australia by six wickets and are now through to the semi-finals of the ICC World T20 2016.

Thank You Virat!

 All images have been sourced from: espn cricinfo