India v West Indies: Analysis of Virat Kohli's record-breaking ODI ton

Ashish Peter - Senior Writer 18:16 24/10/2018
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    • The run-scoring machine that is Virat Kohli shows no signs no stopping anytime soon as he notched up his 37th ODI hundred and second in succession on Wednesday.

    The India skipper remained unbeaten on a 129-ball 157 in the second ODI against the West Indies at Vizag to help the hosts post 321-6 in their overs after batting first.

    Kohli became the fastest batsman in ODI history to breach the 10,000-run mark in the format when he went past 81 in his innings. As the India skipper continues to redefine modern-day run scoring with his back-to-back hundreds, we take a closer look at his colossal display at Vizag.

    STATISTICS

    RUNS SCORED: 157

    BALLS FACED: 129

    BOUNDARIES: 13

    SIXES: 4

    STRIKE-RATE: 121.7

    30-SECOND REPORT

    Kohli walked in to bat as early as the fourth over after Rohit Sharma’s early dismissal. He then saw Shikhar Dhawan depart at the other end as Windies made a bright start with the ball. However, the India skipper was typically unflustered as he carried off from where he left off at Guwahati. Watchful in the early part of his innings, Kohli brought up his 49th ODI fifty on a track which was slow and gripping. He forged a 139-run stand for the third wicket with Ambati Rayudu to get India’s innings back on track before becoming the fastest batsman in history to register 10,000 ODI runs.

    Not done there, Kohli brought up a second ton on the bounce and his 37th overall before letting loose in the death overs. He single-handedly dragged India’s score past 300 with some big hitting at the death and remained unbeaten on 157.

    GOT RIGHT

    On a pitch which was much slower than the one at Guwahati, batsmen struggled to time the ball perfectly. However, Kohli was unperturbed and looked a class apart from everyone else as he timed the ball to perfection. He was content to be circumspect in the first half of his innings, letting the ball come on the bat nicely while keeping the runs ticking with quick singles and twos. Once he brought up his hundred, he abandoned all caution and took the attack to the Windies. All four of Kohli’s sixes came after he had notched up his ton.

    It was against the perfect representation of how to construct the ideal ODI innings and there is no better batsman in the world than Kohli when it comes to that.

    GOT WRONG

    Though he looked unstoppable after a while, it was not always smooth sailing for Kohli at Vishakapatnam. The right-hander struggled to come to grips with the surface early on with a few streaky boundaries ensuing. He was also given a huge reprieve by his Windies counterpart Jason Holder when batting on 46. Kohli failed to find the perfect connection to a slower ball by debutant Obed McCoy but luckily for him, Holder could not hold on to the catch while running back.

    VERDICT – 9.5/10

    For the second match in a row, Kohli has shown why there is no other like him in the modern game. If the Guwahati ton was a masterclass in how to construct an ODI innings during a big chase, the Vizag hundred was a study on how to control the tempo while batting first. To register 1,000 ODI runs in just 11 innings in 2018 at an average of nearly 150 is a mind-boggling feat and deserves all the praise it gets.

    Every time we marvel at Kohli’s genius, he goes one better the next time. At this form, there might be no bowling attack in the world which can contain the India superstar, let alone the hapless Windies’ unit. To get to 10,000 ODI runs in 54 fewer innings than the next fastest batsman (Sachin Tendulkar) is a testament to Kohli’s greatness and we are privileged to see an all-time great strut his talents with every passing day.

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