Virat Kohli’s eyes were once again scorching. There was no look of misfortune or frustration today. Virat Kohli strode out, took the strike against the perhaps the best powerplay bowler in IPL 2022, Mohammed Shami. Tapped his bat and was set for his comeback innings.
Kohli was coming into the game against Gujarat Titans under immense criticism and doubts from what he’s often called the “outside noise”. Well, scores of 1 and 12 followed by two golden ducks and a streaky 10-ball 9 did warrant some questions over a lot of things around Kohli’s batting. Some have even called for his place in India’s T20 side and felt that he could be excluded from the World Cup squad if his poor rut continues.
But, on a bright Saturday afternoon, he got a start exactly as he’d have wished for: Shami, who’s rattled batters with his good length in the powerplay, dished out a couple of full balls to his former India captain, one which Kohli drove straight and another on the pads which he flicked and he was up and running. A non-threatening short ball down the leg side in the next over guided for another boundary.
A silent glance up at the sky to celebrate his first IPL 2022 fifty for Virat Kohli!!
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— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) April 30, 2022
Alzarri Joseph continues to be a target bowler for batters in the IPL and Kohli stamped his authority with two more fours off the West Indian.
Such has been Kohli’s form this season that he decided to play the second fiddle to the aggressive Rajat Patidar. With skipper Faf du Plessis dismissed for a duck, the former RCB captain took it upon himself to play the anchor role.
As Patidar got into his groove and maintained the aggression, Virat Kohli calmly knocked around, occasional boundaries punctuated with hard ran twos in the afternoon heat, reminding fans of his elite fitness standards.
There weren’t as many false shots in his innings as you’d expect from an “out of form” batsman. He middled most of his shots, the ball followed his directions as it used to before. The bowlers felt helpless trying to dismiss him. The big sixes or the unleashing of his array of shots in the death overs didn’t come today though, but he got runs and it was clearly his best innings so far in the tournament.
He reached his first fifty of the season, a landmark, and there was immense relief on Kohli’s face and throughout the entire nation. For the King is back.
