Consecutive ducks for the first time in his international career, 1-0 down in the series, a home world cup later in the year, doubts over his captaincy. One can only imagine the immense pressure Virat Kohli, the captain of the Indian cricket team was under going into the 2nd Paytm T20 international at the Narendra Modi International Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The first T20 international between India and England was a landslide victory for the English, India managed only a measly 124/7 in their 20 overs after being put in to bat by Eoin Morgan, with 67 of those coming from the blade of Shreyas Iyer. Virat Kohli followed up a duck in the last innings of the test series, with another one, this time facing 4 balls before being dismissed on the fifth ball, trying to hit Adil Rashid over mid-off, but unable to get the height or the power on the ball.
Kohli stuck to his strengths in the second T20, this time winning the toss, and putting England in to bat. A blistering start from Jason Roy pushed England to a respectable total of 164, and Sam Curran bowled a majestic first over, cumulating with KL Rahul nicking the ball to Buttler on the last ball to bring Kohli onto the crease for the second over, with the scoreboard undisturbed. What followed was an innings we have become accustomed to seeing from the Indian Captain.
Every sportsman will go through a lean patch, where individual success might be hard to come by, but cricket is special, in this sport a moment can shifts fortunes, each ball is a new opportunity to change the script, and one such moment occurred on the first ball of the fourth over. Kohli, at the time 4(4), climbed onto a short ball
from Archer, and dispatched him with authority that very few in the world of cricket can command, the shackles were broken, the king had found his mojo.
Kohli didn’t win the Man of The Match award, that went to debutant Ishan Kishan, but Kohli didn’t need the award, he had his form back, and nothing encapsulates the beauty of watching Virat Kohli bat more than the 3rd ball of the 15th over, where Kohli danced down the track to Tom Curran, and presented the full face of the bat. 2 weeks ago, in the test series, the shot would have ended there, the ball would have raced down past the bowlers scampering feet to the boundary for 4, but such is Kohli’s versatility, the high follow through, and the fluid motion of his wrists sent the ball flying straight into the side screen. 19 balls later Kohli finished it off in style, a pull over fine leg saw him hit the winning runs, taking India home like he’s done so many times before, while also making him the first man to reach 3000 T20I runs, after all, in cricket, when it rains, it pours.
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