Over seven weeks, across eight cities, against seven different bowling
attacks in varied conditions (at one point playing nine matches in three
weeks), Virat Kohli scored 973 runs
at an average of 81.03 and a strike rate of 152.03 in this IPL. These
are freakishly staggering numbers. They go against the grain of the
format. This is consistency unheard of, almost undreamt.
The fickleness of the T20 format is such that it is still up for debate
whether such freakish batting is less desirable than three big hitters
sharing the duties between them and in the process striking at a higher
rate. In the two big tournaments this year - the IPL and the World T20 -
eventually the big hitting trumped the contributions of batsmen seeking
perfection. This tussle of style will make for interesting viewing in
the leagues to come, but Kohli's amazing consistency is worth looking
back at. After all, for eight IPL seasons before this one, no one had
managed an aggregate of over 750. Kohli battered it in one go.
Two men who worked with Kohli at Royal Challengers Bangalore are not
surprised by his numbers. Trent Woodhill, the team's batting coach, and Ed Smith,
a former England batsman, now a sportswriter, who worked as a
consultant to the franchise in the lead-up to this IPL, watched Kohli
prepare and knew he was going to do something special this season.
"Virat Kohli was in that special place that a very few athletes get into
at some point in their careers, where they are at the peak of their
competitiveness, they are phenomenally fit, and their determination is
exceptional"
Ed Smith
As cricket gets shorter, it is now more frequently compared with other
sports, and Woodhill and Smith have no hesitation in putting Kohli in
the bracket of prime athletes like Novak Djokovic in tennis.
To break Kohli's feat down technically, to understand how it came about,
is difficult for an outsider, but these two close-in observers saw a
man at the peak of his fitness, competitiveness, mental health and
technique.
Woodhill's explanation for Kohli's mind-boggling consistency is simple. "He has trained himself to repeat.
"What I mean by that is that before going out into the match, he is
playing the same game. It's not like he is trying to play a certain way
and then can't repeat that. When he wants to hit the ball to a certain
area, he is not thinking how he is doing it technically. He is just
repeating. He is seeing the opportunity and taking that opportunity.
Most 50+ scores in an IPL season
Player
Team
50+ scores
Season
Virat Kohli
Royal Challengers Bangalore
11
2016
David Warner
Sunrisers Hyderabad
9
2016
Chris Gayle
Royal Challengers Bangalore
8
2012
David Warner
Sunrisers Hyderabad
7
2015
AB de Villiers
Royal Challengers Bangalore
7
2016
"It's the whole holistic channel. From his diet to his fitness to how he
prepares for his innings is the same every time. So the consistency is
there. The fitness is there, so he can physically do what he wants to
do. Mechanics are sound, so he is able to mechanically perform the way
he wants to perform. Because he is stronger and fitter, he doesn't have
to manufacture shots. Now when he is hitting the ball aerial, they are
landing ten metres beyond the rope.
"He is not fighting physics or mechanics. Himself and Davey Warner
were consistent because day in day out they had the physical attributes
needed to back up the mechanical structure they had put in place over a
period of time."
Physical fitness, according to Woodhill, is what separates Kohli, Warner and AB de Villiers from the others.
"What I have found out about Virat, through [Shankar] Basu, our fitness
coach, and through Virat, is that because of his complete determination
to be the best, he is physically at the top of his game. There is no one
more physically fit than Virat. There are people as good. Davey Warner,
for example. But no one better.
"The beauty of Kohli and Davey is that they are not interested in what
other people think of their mechanics. They are just looking to repeat
what they do day in day out"
Trent Woodhill
When Kohli came to Royal Challengers this season, he was supremely
confident of his technique. He came with knowledge that he didn't have
any weaknesses.
Smith says that confidence was palpable. "One of the very striking
things was the determination, aura and readiness of Virat Kohli to have a
great series.
"I don't think any of us could have guessed quite how good, but it was
clear - and this is not being wise after the event - that he was in that
special place that very few athletes get into at some point in their
careers, where they are at the peak of their competitiveness, they are
phenomenally fit, and their determination is exceptional. Technique is
in a good place. It was the coming together of all those factors. Body,
mind, technique, mentality.
"In terms of total commitment in every aspect of his life to excellence
on the field, it reminded me of Djokovic. In terms of taking this total
game to new heights. All those things about Virat manifested themselves
very quickly, the way he approached preparation and training before the
IPL."
This confidence can only come from knowing that your game is in such a
good place that on most occasions only you can beat yourself.
"A lot of it is inbuilt," Woodhill says. "The Messis, the Ronaldos, the
Nadals, the Federers, the Lebron Jameses, they make sure they are at the
top of their game to compete with so many good sportsmen. The day they
don't give 100% to their preparation, they give the opponent an
opportunity. Kohli and Warner worked it out that if they have complete
commitment to what they think they do best, it is really hard to have
weakness."
Excellent in the shorter formats, but has some improving to do against the moving ball.
ZCFOutkast
on June 7, 2016, 10:35 GMT
Why is ABD constantly in the mix? Kohli&Warner open the batting, AB
doesn't! Once he opens the batting and reaches these heights, only then
can he be rated. He must leave leave RCB and move to a weaker batting
lineup then perform as well as Warner did; or even better stay but
actually open the batting the next time Chris Gayle is not available.
VRDBB
on June 7, 2016, 8:47 GMT
All the hype and in the end just a losing captain and a runners-up
medal. The landmark of 1000 runs and taking RCB over the line in the
final proved a bridge too far for Kohli. I still rate him a better
player and leader than MSD tho'.....
Zeus7
on June 7, 2016, 7:59 GMT
@SHARATH.KOMARRAJUL: You're wrong. Whatever you said for Warner, goes
for Kohli as well. He's not leading a team from his native Delhi
friends. Everyone is RCB (and every other team) come from different
culture.
Kohli created history - warner was just good. Maybe if Warner scored
1000+ runs, we will have this discussion next year.
BTW, in T20I Kohli's average is double that of Warner. Warner can try
for 2nd position (he's even not as good as ABD), 1st is Kohli.
Cricinfouser
on June 7, 2016, 7:06 GMT
someone said Rohit Sharma failed bcoz his legs are weak .....his avg is
44 with a SR of 132 and considering they did not play in batting
friendly conditions so comparing is not a good thing ....everything
matters but still not an excuse he placed 6th in leading scorers with a
good avg and SR so i feel dhoni raina manishpandey failed. rohit is
better than dhawan raina manishpandey dhoni but not kohli that doesnt
mean he failed ...he is still second best batsmen in india after kohli
Cricinfouser
on June 7, 2016, 4:57 GMT
his favourite shot is coverdrive which is the most risky shot in test
cricket. he has to forget his fav shot and try to groom himself in
department of cut, pull on and off drive more. then only his greatness
in test level can be feeled. otherwise that ball bowled on the 3 and 4th
off stump line will always trouble him like he was fully exposed when
india was touring england for 5 match test series. its not a arguement
but a compliment.
VenkVishy
on June 7, 2016, 4:50 GMT
Everytime you see Kohli, ABD and Warner bat they seem to emulate the
other !
All 3 are so consistent that you can't chose the best between the 3.
Just amazing and mindblowing is their batting skills.
1. Kohli is 95% of purity and copy book shots
2. David Warner 70/30 purity and unconventional combined
3. ABD is 50/50 of both. The innovations what ABD does while batting is
unimaginable. Righly said by Sachin the reverse sweep six by ABD is
unbelievable !
Coming to attitude, Dave Warner has shown outstanding quality in his
behaviour !
He has let only his bat do all the talking. What an awesome behavioural
change in him from couple of years ago from the Joe Root incidents.
It's a treat to watch him. Even Kohli has to learn from him on that
aspect. Youngsters, not only budding cricket youngsters but all of them
have to learn a lot from his spotless behaviour. That is the outstanding
part of this season's concluded IPL. Take a bow at David Warner for his
exemplary behaviour. Hats off !
bavarian
on June 7, 2016, 4:23 GMT
Yes,
Consistency at the peak, and at the rarest someone would have witnessed
it before, and Cricket is such a game that Virat can be placed at the
top even when considering all global sports,
but not to forget virats word after those couple of matches when he
performed with AB, a 100 % Cricket fan automatically comes to know who
is the best when the bests share the crease together,
What AB can do, only he does, has done, and can do,
Virat was experiencing it from the other end. and made him to say again and again that AB is the Best of this generation,
Yes I also doubt someone else can do what Kohli does now, No,
No but thats in respect to Consistency and What is in respect to AB is
the superhuman ability to time to think what bowlers gonna do, and to
exhibit.
Sharath.Komarraju
on June 7, 2016, 3:45 GMT
Lots of hyperbole here. Not to take away anything from Kohli's brilliant
two years or so in Limited Overs games, but David Warner was the
batsman of IPL 2016 for me. He was playing in alien conditions, leading a
squad half of whom belonged to a drastically different culture. He
batted in tougher conditions. He carried a weaker batting lineup. He led
his team to the title. More importantly, he led with grace, and
inspired his team to the FAIR PLAY AWARD as well. (Whoever thought one
could ever say that about Warner, but here we are.) Having done all
this, he trails Kohli just by 15% or so in the aggregate run tally.
David Warner is - or ought to be - the story of IPL 2016, not Virat
Kohli. Kohli batted very well, but Warner did better when you take into
account all the context and subtext.
cricketview
on June 7, 2016, 3:26 GMT
Kohli is an amazing player. We are priviliged to be viewing some special
talents in form of Kohli , Root , Williamson , Rahane , Pujara , Warner
. They are all having strengths and weakness. We must all accept that
overall Kohli is ahead of his peers . He has amazing technique and done
well in various conditions. He has a very good test record since he has
mostly played all his tests on tough pitches ( even home games ) and his
ODI and T20 record is in comparable. He has done well and wth players
like Root and Williamson also starting to do well in ODI , we are in for
some treat for years to come. Kohli is class and we hope we get another
competition like Lara vs Tendulkar type ,this time it could well be -
Root vs Williamson vs Kohli. 3 classy , stylish , elegant proper
batsman. Just loving this.
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