So what were the
reasons India clinically, breezed into the semi-finals? Several reasons
amounted to the show. Scalping 70 wickets in 7 games, not losing a wicket in
the second power-play, fielding was world-class, batsman were taking turns to
stand up, MSD has his head on his shoulders and with the bat, it shows.
In the last one year
whenever we have been writing articles on Team India or reviewing their
performances, Virat Kohli has always trended. Hence when I could not use his
name even once in my first paragraph, I was forced to ponder to discover the
reason. Any batter would qualify as a hit batsman if his average is 60+, but here
even with that average we are forced to feel he is still due for a big one. To
be honest, I felt 107 was just the trailer, and more goodies are on the cards.
But not to be!
If India is having a
dream run in the Cup, the credit has to be shared. But, now with under six-days
to go for the pre-summit clash, against a team that has made it a habit to tame
India in the last couple of months, the ask looks tall.
With SCG being the
venue for the ‘battle of the equals’, the focus will shift on Virat Kohli to
stand up and get counted. He has been India’s saviour man, superman and a true
dynamo in the half a dozen years. In 2011, Virat was playing under the shadow
and aura of Sachin. Hence, the question will be, ‘Can Kohli create his own
niche?’, ‘Can Kohli use this Cup to become a cricketing great, like his predecessor
Sachin Tendulkar’?
There is no doubt
that he has what it takes to make merry at the biggest stage of them all, hence
is year 2015 his year? Has Kohli chosen Australia as his stage to go big? Can
he face the likes of Starc and Johnson bowling at 145 kmph+, with their tails
up? Big players select big occasions, like Sachin chose 2003 Pakistan. An
attack, that comprised of the lethal trio of Waqar, Wasim and Shoaib.
The team will surely
look up to Kohli to deliver, come Oz and SCG on the 26th of March.
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