Can Virat’s grounded batting genius attain lift-off again?

Kohli has struggled in recent times, especially judged against the rarefied heights he frequented. But if he can pause, introspect and refocus, there is no reason why he can’t catch a second wind

Batters have this fatalistic acceptance of one delivery having their name written on it. “All it takes to dismiss us is one ball,” is an oft-heard statement when a willow-wielder gets philosophical about batting. This is akin to gangsters believing that one bullet will have their name on it. For them their story ends, while for the batter, it is time for introspection.

There is truth in these assumptions and yet what defines a batter’s legacy is what he or she does before that one fatal delivery scatters the stumps or draws an edge or ruffles the pads in line or the legs falter and a run-out ensues. In his last Test innings at the Oval in 1948, Don Bradman was dismissed for a duck by England leg-spinner Eric Hollies. Bradman’s average was stranded at a mind-boggling but pathos-dripping 99.94 and yet more than that sporting goodbye, what lingers are the statistical mountains he built.

Runs are a batter’s passport to glory or infamy. And those classy ones, essaying languid cover drives and muscular pulls, giving us the illusion of permanence at the crease, are judged on a higher plane. Vivian Richards and his teammate Gus Logie would be assessed on different yardsticks even if their primary vocation is batsmanship. Richards has to dominate, Logie is granted his failures, and that’s how it has always been and will be.

It is a lesson that Virat Kohli has been learning the hard way over the last few years while a pandemic raged and his runs, by his rarefied heights, dried. Even on the latest England tour, he mustered 76 from six innings. His last international ton, a 136 against Bangladesh in the day-and-night Test at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, happened in November 2019, when social-distancing and bio-bubbles were not part of our lexicon. Subsequently, COVID-19 leapt across continents and grief became an overwhelming shroud.

When sport flickered back, Kohli, batter-supreme, acrobatic fielder and mood-influencer, discovered the law of averages. The confident stride towards the pitch, the adrenaline-throbbing running between the wickets and the feline reflexes while watching the field being set: these remain intact, but it’s just that compared with the highs of yet-another hundred, he now seems a wee-bit tired, like a fatigued official pushing files in a stuffy office. 

The captaincy was relinquished and in one instance, specifically ODIs, it was taken away from him. A grounded batting genius was left wondering about cricketing mortality. This was a man who once could even get the then coach Anil Kumble removed. The latter resigned after reading the tea-leaves and Kohli remained the batting Moses parting the fielding seas.

That phase looks distant even if Kohli, the batter, may get a second wind. He is 33, remarkably fit and if his bat could talk, we will all be happy to lean on the phoenix-rising-from-the-ashes trope. There is respect for him, among players, fans and critics. Despite the latest drought, Kohli has earned reverence through his incredible numbers — 8,074 Test runs laced with 27 hundreds; an ODI yield of 12,344 adorned with 43 tons; and a T20I tally of 3,308. Except in Tests, where his average has slipped below 50 (49.53), he has maintained the 50-plus yardstick in ODIs and T20Is. This is an all-format star.