Sehwag twisted his ankle during the practice and India had a problem. Who can open the innings with Gambhir, now?
MS Dhoni goes in with Virat Kohli who was fresh from lifting the Under-19 World Cup.
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium has always been a low scoring one, comparatively. Dhoni called it right and opted to bat first. “Looks like a very good wicket”, he says.
Kohli walks in along with Gambhir. He had a point to prove here, thanks to all the buzz around him. He stops at the non-striker’s end to watch Gambhir who goes the other side to face Vaas.
Gambhir defends the first delivery, and we see that the pitch is assisting the pacers. Sangakkara stands up to the stumps with two slips in place to prevent Gambhir charging and it works. A good length angling into the left-hander goes past the gap between the pad and the bat to hit the stumps. India lost their first wicket.
Now, this puts young Kohli in trouble. He doesn’t know what to do.
He was in two thoughts. To hit everything to ease the pressure and to keep quiet till everything goes to normal. Kohli wasn’t quick as well. Not quick between the wickets, not quick to bring his bat down at the right time. The gap between the bat and pad was evident, he was chasing the deliveries that were going away from him, his foot movement wasn’t helping him as well. With the ball assisting the pacers, Kohli needed to change his technique a bit but what do you expect from a young cricketer who is all new to this setup?
He failed. He failed after surviving 22 deliveries. He failed after scoring just 12 runs. In fact, the whole Indian team failed as the visitors managed only 146 that day and India went on to lose the match by 8 wickets.
The Kohli we know now would have approached the match differently. He would have left the deliveries that troubled him, he would have hit those that don’t. He would have converted ones to twos and would have added the pressure on the fielders. He would have played closer to his body, would have preferred leg side rather than trying to hit everything on the off. He would have found the gap with ease rather than trying to go over the batters. He wouldn’t have felt the pressure if he left ten deliveries in a row because he knows he can cope up later. He would play a few strokes on his back foot rather than staying in the front. Most importantly, he would play the deliveries with the straight bat, pointing it down to prevent the edges.
What would a young Kohli know?
With years, things did change or he made them change. He looked at the mirror one day and wanted to change his body. He became fit and that helped him to play more freely and run more freely. One day, he realized he needed to play more closely to the body and he slowly did and that helped him to tackle the pace in the overseas condition. One day, he realized cricket is not all about aggressive batting alone and improved the ability to pick up the gaps.
With years, things did change or he made them change.
After his early years, he made sure to either play the game, watch it, at times, learn from it. Slowly, everything fell right for him. His hours of practice, the hours at the gym, the hours of learning made him the best he is today.
He will not stop with this. Even when he has everything, he will not stop because, at heart, he is always that hungry child who he once was when he picked up the bat. The hungry child who never grows old. The hungry child who always wants more. The hungry child who thinks his only competition is himself and tries to get better with every single match.
The challenges motivate him. The sledges motivate him. Aggression motivates him. That is how he is and that is how he always will be. He wants to be out there. Be in the limelight and he hates losing and he puts all the grudges on to his batting. Every single day. This is what he breathes and this is how he gets better.
Kohli, to us, might be the best ever cricketer, but to him, he has so much left to achieve, and he will not stop until he gets there.
