5 Reasons Why Virat Kohli is India's Run Machine.
There are many types of cricketers in this game. Some are known for giving good starts to their team,some are known for building up their innings,some for their big shots and consistency. Imagine a player with all the abilities mentioned above and is a complete package on field. I bet everyone would be thinking about none other than Virat Kohli when there is a discussion about a player having every ability to be a star in world cricket. And indeed he is a world class and one of a kind player for India.
1. Consistency
Not many cricketers are consistent in scoring runs for their team and some players take time to be consistent. For Virat consistency was never a problem,he continued to score runs in every situation,on every kind of wicket and in any of the format. Many believe the secret behind his consistency is that he firmly states that ODI and T-20 format is just an extension of Test cricket. So he keeps Test format as his base for playing strokes and that has helped him not to hrow his wicket away at delicate situations in the course of the game. If we talk about the statistics,he has great average in every format. He averages 44 in tests, 51.51 in ODI and a stupendous 52.65 in T-20. The numbers speak the truth here regarding Virat's consistency.
2. Commitment.
Great batsman Sunil Gavaskar once said,"To become a good player you need talent but to become a great player you need to have attitude like Virat Kohli."
Nobody can ever beat Virat Kohli's commitment towards his performance in the game. He postponed his father's funeral almost by 3-4 hours just because he was playing a Ranji match for his team Delhi and was batting at that moment. He came to know about this during a drinks break but he didn't discontinue his batting. Such was his commitment that he ended up scoring 91 for his team and took them to a strong position in the match. We can always see on his face that he is very emotional, involved and committed to the game. Surely this attitude has helped him to reach where he is today.
Quick Read: 7 Reasons Why Virat Kohli is the best man to lead India in Tests
3. Master while chasing.
Virat Kohli and chasing down totals make a great couple. Ok,that was a bit exaggerated but really there is nobody who can chase down big and challenging totals with so much ease as Virat does. He admits that he enjoys chasing because that enables him to analyse his performance better and how much of pressure he can cope up with. He also believes that to be a good chaser of huge totals you need to set small targets for yourself and you must avoid looking at the bigger picture. Instead go for smaller targets which would be easy to achieve and will benefit the team. We will now let the numbers do the talking. In ODIs he averages a whooping 63 while chasing with a great strike rate of 89. He has scored 14 hundreds while chasing and he is only behind Sachin Tendulkar in that matter. He has scored around 64% of his total runs in ODIs while chasing. Same is the case with rest of the two formats. Everyone would surely be reminded of his 100 off 52 balls versus Australia in Jaipur 2013 when he smashed Aussies all over the park while chasing a stiff target of around 340. He is indeed the master while chasing.
4. Building up an innings
This is one quality of Virat which sets him apart from the current lot of the batsmen. He builds his innings very well and always stays ahead a step or two from the opposition. Because of this quality he doesn't throw his wicket early. He paces his innings really very well which is also important while chasing. Taking an example of ODI format,he plays with a strike rate of 80 in his first 20-30 balls and once he has his eyes in he accelerates and his strike rate shoots up to around 93 having played 55-60 balls. This clearly indicates that his focus is on building up the foundation for his team as he starts with caution and then takes out big shots from his bag. This is indeed a sign of a great player.
5. Overseas Performance
The biggest positive on Virat Kohli's side is his overseas performance. Be it Australia or South Africa he never loses in any opportunity to score runs. Yes,he had a horrible tour against England in England in 2014. But that is a topic of the past as he has improved quite nicely post that tour. He scored a century against South Africa in their backyard against the bowling attack comprising of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander in 2012.
Statistics
He scored 2 centuries and 2 fifties in 5 ODI series against Australia in Australia and was the second highest scorer in that series behind Rohit Sharma. He was the Man of the Series in the T-20 series scoring fifty in every of the three matches. He also neared India to a win in Adelaide in Tests in 2014-15. His game doesn't change a bit even though the playing conditions change.
1. Consistency
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| Source |
Not many cricketers are consistent in scoring runs for their team and some players take time to be consistent. For Virat consistency was never a problem,he continued to score runs in every situation,on every kind of wicket and in any of the format. Many believe the secret behind his consistency is that he firmly states that ODI and T-20 format is just an extension of Test cricket. So he keeps Test format as his base for playing strokes and that has helped him not to hrow his wicket away at delicate situations in the course of the game. If we talk about the statistics,he has great average in every format. He averages 44 in tests, 51.51 in ODI and a stupendous 52.65 in T-20. The numbers speak the truth here regarding Virat's consistency.
2. Commitment.
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| Photo: Reuters |
Nobody can ever beat Virat Kohli's commitment towards his performance in the game. He postponed his father's funeral almost by 3-4 hours just because he was playing a Ranji match for his team Delhi and was batting at that moment. He came to know about this during a drinks break but he didn't discontinue his batting. Such was his commitment that he ended up scoring 91 for his team and took them to a strong position in the match. We can always see on his face that he is very emotional, involved and committed to the game. Surely this attitude has helped him to reach where he is today.
Quick Read: 7 Reasons Why Virat Kohli is the best man to lead India in Tests
3. Master while chasing.
 |
| Photo: Reuters |
Virat Kohli and chasing down totals make a great couple. Ok,that was a bit exaggerated but really there is nobody who can chase down big and challenging totals with so much ease as Virat does. He admits that he enjoys chasing because that enables him to analyse his performance better and how much of pressure he can cope up with. He also believes that to be a good chaser of huge totals you need to set small targets for yourself and you must avoid looking at the bigger picture. Instead go for smaller targets which would be easy to achieve and will benefit the team. We will now let the numbers do the talking. In ODIs he averages a whooping 63 while chasing with a great strike rate of 89. He has scored 14 hundreds while chasing and he is only behind Sachin Tendulkar in that matter. He has scored around 64% of his total runs in ODIs while chasing. Same is the case with rest of the two formats. Everyone would surely be reminded of his 100 off 52 balls versus Australia in Jaipur 2013 when he smashed Aussies all over the park while chasing a stiff target of around 340. He is indeed the master while chasing.
4. Building up an innings
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| Image Source: Getty Images |
5. Overseas Performance
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| Image Source: BCCI |
The biggest positive on Virat Kohli's side is his overseas performance. Be it Australia or South Africa he never loses in any opportunity to score runs. Yes,he had a horrible tour against England in England in 2014. But that is a topic of the past as he has improved quite nicely post that tour. He scored a century against South Africa in their backyard against the bowling attack comprising of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander in 2012.
Statistics
| Span | Mat | Runs | HS | Bat Av | 100 | Wkts | BBI | Bowl Av | 5 | Ct | St | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All venues | 2008-2016 | 171 | 7212 | 183 | 51.51 | 25 | 4 | 1/15 | 159.00 | 0 | 83 | 0 | ||
| Away from home | 2008-2016 | 72 | 2885 | 136 | 47.29 | 11 | 3 | 1/15 | 99.66 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
He scored 2 centuries and 2 fifties in 5 ODI series against Australia in Australia and was the second highest scorer in that series behind Rohit Sharma. He was the Man of the Series in the T-20 series scoring fifty in every of the three matches. He also neared India to a win in Adelaide in Tests in 2014-15. His game doesn't change a bit even though the playing conditions change.
5 Reasons Why Virat Kohli is India's Run Machine.
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Reviewed by Unknown
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