New Delhi: There are only a handful of sports. Virat Kohli Will play on their home turf in Delhi. This explains the deafening clamor in the corridors of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) for Saturday’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) match against the Delhi Capitals.From an intrepid youth to a spiritually driven politician, Kohli’s legend is one of continuous evolution. It is a process that does not stop, a process that instills fear in those who witness it themselves. This has allowed him to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with the younger generation that is rewriting the grammar of T20 batting, a process that has helped him maintain superstardom even as Indian cricket has ushered in an anti-superstar culture.The IPL has reached a level where it is close to being dubbed as a different sport from the sports played around the world. Scored 986 runs in 77.2 overs in two matches on Sunday. The relentless power, strength and physicality behind these runs can match the violence of any action movie.At the other end of the spectrum is Kohli, who uses his bat as an excellent tool to demoralize the bowling attack bit by bit, over by over. Match by match.Even as the world was recovering from Sunday’s Gowri run-fest – which saw a comfortable chase of 265 and 229 – one must remember that it was Kohli who had played a key role in a comfortable chase of 200-plus against the Gujarat Titans the evening before. The batting gold standard in Indian cricket for the past 15 years, his legacy has quietly inspired India’s contemporary T20 batting renaissance.
Funky ramp shots, scoops and audacious reverse sweeps/scoops are hardly seen in T20 cricket now. RCB captain Rajat Patidar And Dev Dutt Padikal – RCB’s engine room in the middle overs – has redefined himself as a T20 batsman this year, banking on traditional shot-making. He spent the entire evening here at the Kotla, hitting big shots down the ground. “I remember a few years ago, there were a lot of scopes and other funky shots. Now, it’s about how players can check their drives. I would say people are focusing more on making sure their normal shots have a lot of power in them to clear the boundary,” the RCB mentor. Dinesh Karthik said on Sunday. That Kohli is still challenging the next generation of India’s T20 batting stars for the Orange Cap (highest run scorer) is testament to his insatiable appetite for excellence. Ironically, this is the format he first ditched international cricket two years ago when questions were raised about his ability to keep up with the times.And now that the cricketing world has accepted scores of 225 and beyond as the new IPL norm, Kohli has remained relevant and a role model for his peers around him.RCB skipper Dinesh Karthik dismissed the man’s stubbornness to trust his methods. “He goes back every year and evaluates what he’s done. He comes back with a very stubborn plan and he doesn’t do it on match days alone but the way he practises, Karthik said.“The youngsters in the team are constantly asking me what Virat Bhaiya is doing differently,” Karthik said, “credit to him for reinventing himself with every passing year and for keeping pace in a game where some new players are batting at crazy strike rates.”
