Kohli bats ‘in the zone’

Virat Kohli appears to be performing “in the zone”, a state in which a sportsman feel invincible, secure and capable of drawing from the very heights of his talent and prowess. The record string of four double centuries in four successive series in one long season beginning in the West Indies last year is an index of the extent of his ambition and his determination to draw on his maximum ability. A team sport like cricket gives ample scope for an individual to shine and the team basks in such performance as great deeds lift the collective performance too. In Kohli’s case, he is virtually burning the candle at both ends as he captains the team in all three formats, runs hard between wickets, is an active fielder who always wishes to be in the game and is also known not to be afraid to get into the verbal side of competitiveness.

An indication of how he excels in the Test cricket format in which he has already notched up 16 centuries and 4,413 runs in his first 54 Tests is to be seen in the statistics of his four double centuries in which he has hit only one six. He does play strokes all round the wicket, including the ramp shot and the cheeky scoops over the wicket-keeper’s head in Tests too and yet he knows the best percentages come in playing the ball all along the ground. In ODIs and T20 he stamps on the accelerator much more. Driving him on is an active sense of achievement as a young captain who wants his team to win every match if possible. He is already an adornment to Indian cricket as Sachin Tendulkar was at his age. Indian cricket can reach greater heights if he finds teammates as committed as he is to excellence.