Virat Kohli’s Colossal Innings Bails India out

By: Sandipan Bose

Today, Virat Kohli can proudly tell the world that he has a big heart. Indeed, he has one. Otherwise, you can’t play a knock as big as the one he did against Australia on Sunday.

His colossal innings bail India out of trouble with so much poise that even losing an important toss didn’t matter much. From start to finish, it was Kohli and his captain MS Dhoni who stood the ground and enabled India to beat a strong side in a virtual semifinal match in Mohali.

And believe it or not, the script was just the same like the one between India and Pakistan match at the Eden Gardens. India’s chase began with a loss of three quick wickets and then the stage was again left for Kohli and Yuvraj Singh to repair the Indian innings, brick by brick.

Thereafter, MS Dhoni, the best finishers of the game, came to the crease and rounded up the match with Kohli in grand style by hitting a four. The Aussies were knocked-out of the tournament and the nation burst into another round of celebration.

And why not? India’s own Kohli has played the best knock of his life. It was a Kohli day in Mohali. In straight and simple words, he was magical and batted like Ricky Ponting of old.

While cutting through the chase, he faced the moment of truth when India were looking down the barrel with a steep asking run-rate. But the Delhi dasher decided to follow his heart and played all copy-book shots according to the merit of the ball.

The striking bit was his changeless batting display and a bold one too. In-between Yuvraj, with whom Kohli had a very important partnership, struggled with an ankle injury at a time when their team was in desperate need to accelerate the scoring rate.

The pair took a call that Yuvraj would go for shots without thinking too much about India losing a wicket because Dhoni was needed to come into the crease. This decision helped India immensely. Dhoni’s 10-ball 18 was the perfect icing on the cake. His unbeaten partnership with Kohli wrecked the Australia dream for good.