Kohli brings out vintage hits in the outskirts as surge continues In his first Vijay Hazare Trophy match in 16 years.
Vintage Kohli electrifies Bengaluru’s faithful, deep in the outskirts.
Fans scrambled atop boundary walls and the tops of container trucks parked next to the warehouses across the road at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) on the outskirts of Bengaluru just after 1:30 p.m. as the police officers guarding Ground 1 took a break for lunch.
In the opening over of Delhi’s 299-run chase against Andhra, Virat Kohli was walking out to bat.
A match-simulation session has just ended at Ground 3. Just as they were finishing their dinner, a small group of India Under-19 players hurried out as soon as they saw Kohli walking towards the centre.
A picture-perfect winter afternoon sprang to life with a start. Other than that, nothing seemed to matter. Everyone was focused on Delhi’s target because it offered Kohli the opportunity to strike a century, not because it promised an interesting chase.
Kohli last participated in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in February of 2010. Between that appearance and this one, he enjoyed a full Test career. When he participated in one Ranji Trophy game earlier this year, Delhi was in disarray. However, this was a more subdued event because fans were not permitted at the CoE.
Before hitting Nitish Kumar Reddy inside-out over cover, it took Kohli three balls. He scored two more boundaries off his fifth and sixth deliveries by squeezing between cover and point. By this point, the supporters had discovered their voice. A couple police officers ran back to duty, leaving half-eaten plates in the lunchroom as the hooting got so crazy.
After making two hundreds and a half-century in a Player-of-the-Series effort earlier in the month in the ODI series against South Africa, Kohli was up and running, continuing where he left off.
After reaching 25 off 13 balls, Kohli was eager to keep going. Priyansh Arya quickly reached a half-century off just 31 balls, turning the chase into a demonstration of excellent hitting on both ends. Arya was raw force, moving out to smack length balls and hitting short-arm jabs and flat-bat pulls over midwicket, while Kohli was all beauty.
From the beginning of his innings, Kohli was using spin, not only to maximise singles but also to force the spinners to shorten their lengths and produce a sweep. He doesn’t play this shot too often. He was put down at mid-on on 32.
With a slap over point, he reached his half-century off 39 balls. Andhra’s bowlers appeared to be going through the motions by this point; in just 11.5 overs, Kohli and Arya amassed 113.
The fundamentals of a signature Kohli knock were still on full display among the flurry of boundaries: hard running, quick running, the urge to pinch twos at the first sign of a chance, and mind games to control the bowlers’ lengths. In an apparent attempt to counteract movement, he frequently walked into his strokes to meet the ball early.
He reached the 80s with a knock over mid-off that cleared the ropes, then the 90s with a gun-barrel straight off a Nitish half-volley that sent the bowler scurrying to get out of the way. Everyone prepared their cameras when he came down to flat-bat him the next ball to the boundary in order to get within one hit of a century.
There was not much time for those searching for the ideal viewpoint. With a wristy flick down the ground, all bottom-handed power, Kohli beat them to his century. He then looked back to appreciate his teammates’ applause.
The fact that TV viewers were unable to partake in this feast seemed almost unjust. Everyone was satisfied at the ground. The man himself gave the ground crew and police officers a wave as they soaked it all and filled their phones with shaky footage.
This mild winter afternoon sparked with a familiar electricity, distant from the Chinnaswamy and far from the city centre that has made Kohli its own.