Now that Virat Kohli is back, the game is once more his

“He is back!”

Those three words were famously used to announce Magic Johnson’s return to the NBA and Los Angeles Lakers in 1996. His return was treated with much fanfare, and the entire nation was in a buzz of excitement. Those same three words now could just as well be used for Virat Kohli.

The star Indian batter claimed his return to form with a flourish that would have stunned even the harshest of doubters. He smashed an outstanding century that was as eyecatching as it was well executed. Yes, India is probably now in the midst of ‘he is back’ hysteria.

With this innings, Kohli reached the milestone of 51 ODI centuries (81st overall), doing so in his 28th ODI-chase, 6th ICC tournament, his first in the Champions Trophy, while also making his second ODI century ever during a run-chase since 2020. His critics were all but silenced, while the fans were treated to another innings from Kohli full of grace.

My job was to control the middle-overs against spinners: Kohli

Against Pakistan in a significant Champions Trophy league match, Kohli’s century might very well embody the proverbial ‘cometh the hour, cometh the man.’ While it can also be said ‘cometh Pakistan, cometh Kohli’ for he has always proved his grit against India’s greatest rivals and Kohli seldom puts a foot wrong.

The previous captain of India has faced a drought of runs in the last 5-6 months and this decline in his performance has raised questions if he should retire from cricket altogether. His answer did not come from himself but from the Pak.

“Before every big match, he makes sure to warm up and practice, and strides onto the field with full confidence. It was said that he was in terrible shape before this match start. But he did it in this big match,” said Mohammad Rizwan after Kohli’s century loss almost singlehandedly sealed his team’s face in the ICC contest which his nation is hosting. With this style of batting, India won by 6 wickets.

The spotlight has been following Kohli for not managing to amass a sizable score, especially as he constantly gets out offside and generally isn’t willing to stay long at the pitch. On the other hand, the other day he started batting, this was exactly the way he was expected to bat. It is clear that he transformed his batting style by abandoning his earlier approach, which placed a heavy restriction on his movement during the game, and allowing himself to swing the bat more freely.

“Considering the back-lift and grip that he possesses, it appears that he has figured out that trying to play much straighter counterproductive if he were to stand a chance to get his maximum output. He did seem to have figured out that there are better chances in playing squarer and by using the angles. It is then logical for him to stop playing straight but playing the angle of the ball as he did today. It will provide the necessary dividends that a player of his value seeks and deserves,” explains a well known technical coach of an IPL team.

It’s said that when batters are going through a rough patch, they tend to overthink things. “In real life this is precisely the reason why he has been in a slump longer than a terrific player like him should have been. This wrong approach, irrespective of his greatness, has resulted in multitudes of failures. He should, instead, have concentrated on his strangely successful grip and backlift technique,” the coach explained. For the latest Cricket Update; Click Here