ENGLAND VS INDIA, 3RD TEST

A statement that ends debates and doubts

by Vishaal Loganathan • Last updated on

Kohli's leaving his competition fast behind © Getty

Forget the batsman to play for your life, or the bowler to summon the fear of death. Who would be the one player you'd want if you ever wanted to make a point? Statements like an impossible chase is not really impossible. Australia's attack is not too lethal to be conquered, South Africa is not untouchable, England can be shaken out of their shells. Is that player Virat Kohli or Virat Kohli?

In Australia a few years ago, Kohli came into bat as the captain of the team for the first time ever. His opponent was Mitchell Johnson, and the first ball he received rose quickly and crashed into his helmet. It was the welcome that would have left most cowering in fear. Not Kohli. For him it was the opportunity to make his point.

Not long after, he stood with his helmet in his hand and pointed to the crest that Johnson had smashed earlier, having completed a fine hundred - statement made.

Now in England, there was the chance for another statement to be made. Kohli's stunning record had one aberration - his woeful record in England. He had been out caught fishing outside the off stump on multiple occasions and that was always spoken about as his major chink. When he made hundreds in Australia, West Indies, Sri Lanka and South Africa, there was always someone to remind him that England was not conquered yet. When he made double hundreds against England, they always reminded him that it wasn't in the swinging English conditions. It was time for Kohli to make another statement.

And he did. In just three matches, he wiped out any doubt there could be about his weakness against the swinging ball. A stunning 149 in Edgbaston was followed up by a fine 51. After a blip at Lord's, he made 97 and 103 in Nottingham. In six innings, he has so far scored two hundreds and two fifties. There's no room for any excuses too. The pitches have been as hard as any, and the attack as lethal. But Kohli stood head and shoulders above, even the England batsmen. It led to Paul Farbrace, England's assistant coach saying, he hopes his batsman can pick up some of the things Kohli is doing in order to break out of their own slump.

From being a bunny, Virat Kohli has turned himself into a beast.

What Kohli's also done with his feats is to put to rest, at least for the time being, the debate about the 'top four'. As Kohli guided Chris Woakes to bring up his 23rd century, Twitter was almost unanimous in announcing Kohli as the best batsman in the world. For years, it had been a debate that swayed depending on one of Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Kohli and Steve Smith's performance. Now, Kohli has set benchmarks that already looks unattainable but also keeps climbing steadily.

Williamson's, for all the class and nonchalance, record in South Africa, England and India pulls him down. Root's consistency in scoring fifties gets weighed down by his inconsistency in converting them. Smith will find it hard to rub away the sandpaper saga. But for Kohli, the world is now at his feet.

It's not that Kohli just decided to turn up and become the best player in the world.

If he speaks about how Indian batsman should look at a mirror and tell themselves to get better, it is only because he has done the same. He transformed himself, transformed Indian cricket too. If he asks his batsman to keep a proper survival plan for the first 30 deliveries, it is only because he does the same too.

In all his innings so far, his first 30-odd balls see him leaving almost everything outside off stump and defending anything that's close to his body. His main scoring shot in that time is the flick, which he is able to do because he has begun walking across more than usual. Farbrace even said how his strategy allowed him to take third and fourth slips out of the equation. And then his strengths take over. "I don't think anyone can play a cover drive like he does, particularly in England," said Pujara at the end of the day. He is able to do so only because he abstains from it initially.

And if he pleads his team to believe in themselves, it is only because he inherently does so himself and sees benefits of such thinking.

So if Kohli repeats that all of this is not about revenge and only about getting India to win, that's probably very true too.

In Australia, during the 2016 ODI series, he had mentioned how he sometimes likes to have fun by having a small argument on the field. That Kohli has disappeared now. When he had the chance to show people that he had quashed all their doubts about his performance in England, Kohli instead took his wedding ring out and dedicated it to his wife. When he got to his second hundred, he just pointed the bat at his wife in the stands. It's a picture of a happier Kohli. A deadlier Kohli.

Now there's your player if you ever want to make a point. We could all be in a pillow fight, but if Kohli is intent on making a statement, then he'd bring a shotgun.

© Cricbuzz

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