Well, just another Virat Kohli article

Growing up in Bangalore, there are a few things that make you different from the rest of the world. The fast-paced life, the parks, the dogs and their owners, and the nightlife are something most people would kill for. Being a Bangalorean is much more than just a social status. As they say, it’s not just about having an iPhone these days (no offence to Tim Cook). Being a Bangalorean means that you are savvy as well as friendly at the same time. Now that is something special.

The 18th of May was a special day in Bangalore and for all RCB fans. The funny thing was that the heavens opened up and the rains came crashing down. It didn’t just drizzle or make its way out like a tap. It poured so much that it seemed as though the rain gods were standing just over, emptying buckets of rain onto the city. People driving their cars had to turn on the car vipers on overdrive in order to drive.

How could we have a game of cricket in conditions like this? Even football matches would be forced to take a break for such unbelievable showers to subside. An hour later, the rain Gods had decided to take a break. The shimmering flood lights were focused on the field of cricket. The crowd at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium had the RCB flags all around them. A sinister smile ran across some of their faces, perhaps in optimism that we may have a game of cricket.

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Deep down, their wish was just to see Virat Kohli. He was their prodigal son. Even if he didn’t fire on the day, it wouldn’t have mattered. His very presence seemed to exude them. Now, they stood in hopefulness. A few minutes, and the covers were off. The DJ and crowd began their famous chant “Arr-cee-bee”. It was quintessentially their war cry. There would indeed be a game of cricket.

Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle made their way out after the former called the toss wrong, again. Despite the roars of the crowd, the duo knew better than to begin their innings in first gear. Apart from the occasional boundaries, the wily Sandeep Sharma kept things tight. They had smashed a run-a-ball 18 by then. Preity Zinta, quintessentially the ‘Roman Abrahamovich’ figure for the Kings XI sat in her seat with a smile. They had a chance to win she thought.

While the RCB batting lineup is feared to the core, they have one thing that separates them from the rest of the IPL sides. They were in first gear till then. Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli then took a decision. It wasn’t one that came from the impregnable RCB dugout or from Daniel Vettori. It was an executive decision. If they were going to win this one, they were going to need a minor miracle. It wasn’t rocket science. It was something they had done before. It was something they were capable of. And, most importantly, it was something in the need of the hour.

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The metaphor, ‘Cometh the moment, cometh the men’, works well in this situation. After three overs of driving the innings in first gear, it had suddenly gone into overdrive mode. Perhaps ‘NitroX’, the popular speed changer also had a part to play in this. Sixes flowed from their bat with vicious power. They were blasting the ball like they had nothing better to do.

Watching the innings, one wouldn’t think that Virat Kohli would be able to hit the ball with the ferocity that he did. After all, he had self-proclaimed that he couldn’t hit the big sixes anymore. He had proved this in the World T20 as well, where he became immensely popular for the quick two’s he ran. However, as well documented really, Kohli was ‘in the mood’. Glenn Miller’s track ‘In the Mood’ wasn’t playing either.

From raining actual rain, it was now raining sixes. The people in the crowd were in danger of contracting concussion more than pneumonia. The sixes were flowing from the bat of Virat Kohli and were deposited into the stands with monotonous regularity. Was he on drugs of some sort? God no. the only drugs he perhaps were on would have been the painkillers he must have taken to stem the pain from the stitches on his left hand.

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If the ball didn’t go into the stands, the advertising boards would get a massive pounding. However, the sixes Kohli was smashing were of a different blend of sorts. As advocated earlier, the 27-year old Kohli wasn’t just swinging the bat. These were proper cricketing shots. Of course, he mistimed a few, and of course, there were the odd deliveries he missed out on.

12 boundaries and 8 sixes. Wow. Strikes to the boundary accounted for 96 of his 113 runs. The six he smashed over long-off was perhaps one of the best ones on the night in terms of elegance. For Kohli, it is like playing a game on the smartphone. Many of the players complete the game, but a special few geniuses like Virat Kohli unlock levels of the game that were never meant to be unlocked in the first place. He has, quite effectively, taken batting to a whole new level.

Aaron Finch’s note to Virat Kohli sums it up quite nicely I suppose.

“Dear Virat Kohli,

Can you please stop making batting look so easy, it’s embarrassing for most other batters in the world.

Thanks”