Since coming back to international cricket following a six-week long break, Virat Kohli hasn’t looked back. Kohli, who not too long ago, was appearing to be a pale shadow of his former dominating self, returned to the good old days. In eight innings since his return, Kohli has scored three fifties and finally ended his long wait for a century, when he hammered 122 not out against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup. With each passing innings, Kohli the maverick is brining back memories of his previous self.
Sunday was another big tick in Kohli’s emergence as the former India captain’s knock of 63 guided India home in a tense series-winning chase. Suryakumar Yadav with his knock of 69 sure had a huge role to play, but Kohli remained almost till the end to ensure India did not fumble. It was the closest Kohli came back to being India’s chase-master.
Kohli’s timely return to form augurs well for India with the T20 World Cup looming. As someone who has seen Kohli at his peak, former fielding coach R Sridhar hailed Kohli 2.0 and noticed a lot of positive difference in Virat, his batting, fielding and the overall mindset and headspace.
“He is in a better space now. Like he admitted himself, he was probably not in the right frame of mind and now has got it in the right place. The break has done him wonders; the time spent with his family has done him wonders. And we saw what he could do right in the first game against Pakistan in the Asia Cup,” Sridhar told Cricket.com.
And rightly so. Kohli scored a crucial 35 against Pakistan, where he looked like a million bucks. He followed it up with consecutive half-centuries – against Hong Kong and then against Pakistan again, this time during a Super 4 tie. Kohli failed in the next game against Sri Lanka, getting dismissed for a duck as India lost the must-win contest, but ended the tournament on a high with a scintillating century against Afghanistan. Kohli ended the Australia series with a defying fifty, with Sridhar in the house, and with three more matches to go against South Africa, the former India fielding coach has passed a verdict which opponents will not fancy reading.
“After seeing him bat from ringside in Hyderabad, you can well and truly say that the king is back. Great mindset. He is fielding like a panther and his batting is brilliant. All in all, it augurs extremely well for Indian cricket going into the World Cup,” he added.