For two days in succession the World Twenty20 was witness to batsmanship of the highest quality. And the most endearing part was it came off the bats of Joe Root and Virat Kohli, two of the brightest stars in the sport at the moment.
Both knocks came under extreme duress with Root stepping up to chase down the highest target in World Twenty20 history against South Africa in Mumbai on Friday and Kohli wading into the Pakistan attack last night in Kolkata to keep India alive in the tournament.
They also proved that in a world where brute power rules there is ample space for class and finesse.
Contrast their efforts to that of Chris Gayle’s blistering century against England in Mumbai on Wednesday to understand the difference.
No offence to Gayle’s heroics but his knocks across formats is an essay in power play and timing.
With Root and Kohli it is like watching Tests with coloured glasses. Compact technique, immaculate timing, gentle caresses abound with rash shots a rarity.
And it is this brand of batsmanship that is fast becoming the highlight of this World Twenty20.
It also a tribute to their talent that they have become the driving force of their respective teams across all formats.
Root was earmarked for big deeds in Tests but he has taken it a step further with his exploits in the limited formats, particularly Twenty20 cricket.
On the other hand, Kohli started off as a limited-overs specialist before transcending his talent to Tests. Where Kohli steals a march over Root in the shortest format is in his high success rate.
The Indian star as he proved against Pakistan last night is at his best chasing down targets in Twenty20 Internationals, averaging 83 as compared to his career average of 53 plus.
With Kohli infusing new life into India’s campaign, which suffered a jolt with the opening defeat to New Zealand, the hosts need to win their remaining games against Bangladesh and Australia by big margins to improve their net run rate and stay in contention for a semi-final berth.
The convincing manner in which India dismantled Pakistan will restore the confidence in MS Dhoni’s side after the Nagpur loss although a few grey areas remain.
Their strongest suit, the batting, has turned out to be the weakest and is hurting them the most.
Against New Zealand the batsmen faltered miserably folding for 79 runs chasing 126 and losing by 47 runs. In Kolkata too the top order was in the hut chasing a tricky target. The opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan along with middle-order batsman Suresh Raina have yet to fire which means Kohli has to lead the firefighting operations.
In the batsmen’s defence it can be said that they were laid low on two difficult pitches and that is where they need to thank Kohli for bailing them out Saturday.
They will be up against a struggling Bangladesh next at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday where the small ground is a favourite haunt for batsmen.
It is the perfect venue and game to get their act together as the bowling has stood up to the challenges well.
While India have covered some lost ground Pakistan are back to square one with this defeat.
Their old issues with the batting continue to haunt them and the road ahead is a bit rocky as the Kiwis lie in wait in their next encounter.
New Zealand are flying at the moment with two victories and with the Pakistan batsmen showing signs of weakness against spin, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner will be itching to have a go at them at Mohali on Tuesday.
