SYDNEY: India star Virat Kohli returns to the scene of one of his most memorable Test innings hoping to rediscover batting form for Thursday’s semi-final against Australia in Sydney.
It was at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January that Kohli, captaining India after the shock retirement of skipper MS Dhoni from the longer format, hit 147 and 46 to lead his team to a creditable draw.
His form dipped alarmingly in the subsequent tri-series that also featured England, with scores of nine, four, three and eight as India failed to make the final and ended the bilateral tour without a win.
But the elegant right-hander struck a match-winning 107 in their World Cup opener against arch-rivals Pakistan in Adelaide on February 15.
Kohli followed that with 46 against mighty South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the next match. But as India cruised, Kohli found runs increasingly hard to come by, making identical scores of 33 against the UAE and the West Indies, an unbeaten 44 versus Ireland, 38 against Zimbabwe and three in the quarter-final against Bangladesh.
As India prepare for the semi-final against the tournament co-hosts, Kohli will be expected to live up to his reputation as one of the most dominant batsmen of his generation.
Skipper Dhoni was confident a match-winning innings from his star batsman was around the corner. “No one can score a century every time,” he said. “But he is so good that people expect him to do it in every innings. He is a dominant batsman who likes playing shots. A big one is just around the corner; big players always score in big games.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 25th, 2015.
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