Very few things in the world can be compared to a Virat Kohli batting blitz. The Indian right-handed batsman took forward his brilliant form from the ODIs for the national team in the start of the new calendar year to the T20 Internationals in Australia.
Kohli was the integral man as India notched up a 37-run win in the 1st of the three T20Is against Australia. The big-hitter scored 90 not-out off 55 balls (9x4, 2x6) to give India a total of 188/3 in 20 overs at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday, also India's Republic Day as well as the Australian Day.
The hosts looked comfortable in the beginning to chase down the total but a good show by the Indian bowlers Jasprit Bumrah as well as spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja forced Australia to lose all their wickets for 151 runs by the 19.3 over mark.
The ODIs in the tour of Australia was not a very memorable one for the Men in Blue with MS Dhoni's men losing all of their first four 50-over games against the Aussies, but the T20 series can now turn to be different. And with the form that Kohli is in, anything can be expected.
The swashbuckling Kohli got two centuries and two half-centuries already in the ODI series against Australia, and he took that form to the T20 series as well, scoring another 50. Not only that, he also proved again that the Adelaide Oval is one of his happy hunting grounds.
He scored his maiden Test ton at the venue in 2012, and also recently scored a sensational 100 against Pakistan in India's opening encounter in the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Dhoni can only be happy of the achievments of his teammate and he feels that the stadium organisers need to reward Kohli richly for his antics.
Like possibly setting up a stand on his name.
"I think in Adelaide, they'll be naming a stand after him, the amount of runs he's scoring," Dhoni shared in a lighter vein with Cricbuzz. "By the time he ends his career, quite a few Australian grounds will have his stand.
"But yes, he's batting really well. The important thing is, when he is taking the risk of playing a big shot, he calculates it well. It's easy to play a big shot, everyone can play it. But it's how you calculate where your strengths are and take risks according to that. Also, he is someone who looks to score in front of the wicket. Of course he's a good cutter and puller of the ball also, but at the same time, he looks to hit in front of the wicket and that always gives you more chances of success.
"He is someone who reads the game very well. Right from the very start, whenever we had any kind of interaction, he was always looking to improve himself as a cricketer. If you have that kind of curiosity, it helps you become a better cricketer," Dhoni added.
