In the 280 innings Virat Kohli has played in during his glittering international career, he’s walked in numerous times with India in deep trouble.
Just like his batting idol Sachin Tendulkar, a man whose ODI record Kohli can realistically match, the Delhi batsman has come good for the country on more occasions than not.
Here’s a look at five such instances.
133* vs SRI LANKA, HOBART
This continues to remain one of the most astonishing chases of all time. In order to keep their hopes alive in the attempt to reach the CB Series finals, India had to defeat Sri Lanka and get a bonus point.
After the toss, the goal was clear: India had to chase down whatever the target would be in under 40 overs. The Indian bowlers weren’t up to make and India had to score 321 in 40 overs to keep themselves alive in the series.
After a brisk start from Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, Kohli took charge and calmly steered India until the 30th over, before going berserk and finishing the match in the 37th over.
He particularly took a liking to one of the greatest death bowlers of all time, smashing Lasith Malinga for 46 runs in 15 balls.
For good measure, Kohli followed this performance up with three more centuries in his next four innings.
115, 141 vs AUSTRALIA, ADELAIDE
After the utter humiliation India were subjected to in their tour Down Under in 2011-12, this Test series was viewed as an opportunity to gauge if the next generation of Indian Test players could be competitive in Australian conditions.
Of all the Indian batsmen playing in this match, only Kohli had prior Test match experience in Australian conditions. The Indians suffered a big blow as Dhoni was forced to sit this match out due to an injury. Thus, Kohli got his first shot at Test captaincy.
So, how did Kohli respond? In the first innings, he formed strong partnerships with Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma to steer India close to Australia’s 500+ first innings total. But the real rescue job came in the fourth innings as India faced an uphill task of chasing down 365.
Kohli walked in very early after Shikhar Dhawan and Pujara got out cheaply, and scored a quick hundred, which included a 190-run partnership with Murali Vijay.
Kohli got India to the brink of victory, but it was not to be as the Indian lower-order collasped in dramatic fashion to hand Australia the win.
183* vs PAKISTAN, MIRPUR
After a shock defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in the 2012 Asia Cup, this was a do-or-die match for India.
Continuing from where they had left off against Bangladesh, the Indian bowlers conceded 329 in the first innings, leaving the Indian batters to chase a hefty 330 against a strong Pakistani bowling line-up.
Kohli came out to bat in just the third ball of the chase. Kohli and Tendulkar got going after that, with the Indians reaching 130 in the 18th over before the latter got out.
With another 200 runs to win, plenty of work had to be done.
Kohli displayed further mastery of his craft of chasing big totals as India comfortably chased down the total with three overs left. Further, as luck would have it, it was Tendulkar’s last ever ODI innings.
55* vs PAKISTAN, KOLKATA
Again, not unlike Tendulkar, Kohli has a knack of performing against Pakistan in World Cup matches.
For the first time in just over three years, Indian fans were treated to an India-Pakistan match in India and what an occasion it was with India having to defeat Pakistan in order to keep their hopes in the tournament alive.
Set a modest total of 119 in 18 overs, one would have expected this to be a breeze for India. But it wasn’t.
After five overs, India were in all sorts of trouble at 23/3 with a misfiring Yuvraj Singh joining Kohli. The two steadied the ship and Kohli ensured that he stayed there till the end to bring joy to the millions of Indians who were watching the match.
82* vs AUSTRALIA, MOHALI
In case the pattern hasn’t been obvious, Kohli’s best knocks come while chasing.
A week after the Pakistan match, India found themselves in a virtual quarter-final against Australia. Set with a target of 161 on a two-paced pitch, India were – as usual – looking up to Kohli to steer the team to yet another victory.
Given Kohli was averaging over 95 in T20Is in 2016, this faith was not entirely baseless.
After the top order floundered yet again, India found themselves in a pickle with Yuvraj Singh joining Kohli relatively early. Things started looking rather bleak at the point when India had to score 60 in last five overs to win.
But yet again, there was Kohli and the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain absorbed all the pressure and almost single-handedly took India into the semi-finals.
It was as if Kohli’s run towards greatness turned into a sprint in 2016.
