Virat Kohli shows glimmers of a captain

Though Virat Kohli has always become a stand-in captain in the absence of regular Indian cricket captain M.S. Dhoni he is definitely captain material. The zeal of this young man who is not yet 26 has got it in him to lead India from the front. It definitely is time for Dhoni to take a back seat and put Virat in the hot seat for furthering the destiny of the Indian cricket team. It must also be said that the Indian team needs the players of the caliber of Dhoni who is perhaps the best finisher in the game of cricket today. Dhoni must assist Virat with his extensive knowledge base and experience. It is very unfortunate but also a fact that Dhoni with his captain cool image has not been able to inspire his fellow players to perform to their level best under trying circumstances. In the extremely competitive environment of the cricket playing world India has been facing consecutive setbacks on overseas tours. One of the reasons for these humiliating outings have been the overprotective nature of Dhoni that has always restrained players from going to an all out approach for securing a win. Secondly it also seems that players have taken their places in the team for granted and have not been duly prepared before the overseas tours to face the challenges at hand. Shikhar Dhawan’s incorrigible batting in South African and Kiwi pitches proved beyond doubt his lack of practice. Even after repeated failures batsmen and bowlers have not been chucked off to give fresh blood a chance to gain experience. It is very sad that in a country like India where cricket is followed crazily we have not been able to generate trained alternatives to take up positions in the Indian national squad. Is it not a sad story that there is only one Dinesh Karthik to replace Dhoni as wicket-keeper! Why was Dinesh not given chances well in advance to gain adequate experience? Why has Raina been continuously playing for India despite his below par performances? Dhoni under the umbrella of Srinivasan have been running the Indian team like their household allowing no one to blossom endangering Dhoni’s captaincy. Yet today it is at stake. Indian cricket has today got a darling of the crowds Virat Kohli who has been in stupendous form regularly slamming centuries in One-Day Internationals. Kohli is also a fantastic player in Test matches as well. He was India’s stand-in captain for the Asia Cup and has reclaimed the...

Spectacular comeback by India against South Africa

After thrashing upon the South African batsmen, India has scored a solid 284 for 2 to steer to a lead of 320 at the close of the third day of first test cricket match. Indian pacers have shown exemplary traits at the seaming pitch of Johannesburg, South Africa, whereby Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan has bagged off 4 wickets each. India came to bat with a lead of 36 runs. Though India lost their first two wickets cheaply, but India’s dependable Pujara and aggressive Virat Kohli has set India back on tracks. Pujara has registered a century and Virat Kohli is waiting for the both innings’ century. However, India has started dominating the test match by belying prediction of...

Kohli steers India in first test

Virat Kohli has shown his marvels by thrashing a fluent century against South Africa at Johannesburg on the first day of the first test cricket match. His exemplary 119 has taken India to an apparently respectable score at the close of the day. The second highest is 43 Not Out, scored by Ajinkya Rahane. Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat. The Indian batting started faltering and lost the opening duo only at 24. While Cheteshwar Pujara had focused on building up the innings with patience, Virat Kohli started cracking the bowlers, in his usual fashion. The Indians have gone back to the dressing room with a score of 255 for 5 at the end of the...

George Bailey is to evolve a strategy to stop Virat Kohli

Though Australians had never found to be faltering during the 6th ODI, which was taken to the rope at Nagpur, George Bailey has envisaged the need to find a way to stop the thunderous Virat Kohli. Bailey had reported in the press conference that he was not upset by the team performance as the team could show bravery in the field. In fact even the second ODI had also gone to India’s favor just because of the magnificent performance of Virat Kohli at the end. So, Bailey has to find the right medicine to combat the thunders of Kohli, who may considered as the root of all devastation for Australia. Though, Indian opening partners have shown exemplary traits in both the ODI episodes, where India won, Virat Kohli had made the real...

India’s tremendous endeavor to level the India Australia ODI series

The reckless yet spectacular inning of Virat Kohli was the corner stone that had set India back on tracks in the current ODI series, where they have been able to pull off an emphatic win at Nagpur. A solid opening partnership between Shikhar Dhawan with 100 and Rohit Sharma with 79 had formulated the base. When Virat Kohli appeared on the stage, the match was quiet open. His magical knock full of blasters could result in nothing else but an exemplary victory in the do or die match for India. Virat Kohli has been showing the marvels that have proved his credibility, so that he can be considered as the batting icon of India in the post Sachin era. The mesmerized crowd of Nagpur must have ensured the best possible return of investment on their tickets as they will certainly cherish the scintillating batting performances of Indians throughout their innings. After a shabby start, George Bailey with his glittering 156 and Shane Watson with 102 could set up an impressive target of 351 in their full quota of 50 overs for the loss of 6 wickets. The duo had accelerated the momentum of the scoreboard in a stunning fashion. Australians had been struggling with an average run rate in the vicinity of four even in their 18th over. The record books have surely registered Virat Kohli’s unbeaten knock that had come off just 66 balls but it is inadequate compared to his magnanimous innings that spurred up every Indian just on the eve of their dinner. His innings was studded with 18 boundaries and one huge over boundary. It is better not to speak off the hapless bowlers of both the sides, who had been brutally lashed upon by the opponent batsmen. Even the key Australian striking bowler, Mitchell Johnson and the key Indian counter part, Shami Ahmed were not left apart. Chasing a colossal 351, on any wicket was never an easy task by any standard. The best part of the entire story was that India had never shown signs of succumbing to the palpable pressure surrounding the match and finally blazed to a sensational victory. In fact, the magnificent victory in the 6th ODI has taken the series to the wire. We all will be excited to enjoy another splurge from all the Indian batsmen, Virat Kohli in particular, at his IPL home ground, Bengaluru during the holy festival of Diwali, to light up the Indian...