Now showing: Super Virat does it again at maiden day-night Test in Kolkata!

Playing with the full face of the bat and oozing confidence, the skipper once again made it seem as if he was playing on a different surface.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli (Photo | AP)
Indian skipper Virat Kohli (Photo | AP)

KOLKATA:  A lot of talk before the day-night Test centred around whether batting would be difficult against a pink ball on a pitch with some grass on it. To a major extent, this apprehension turned out to be true. Not always alarmingly, the ball was more dominant than bat more often than not. This becomes crystal clear if one looks at the plight of Bangladesh’s batsmen against the Indian quicks.

There was one exception though and no marks for guessing who. Like he has on so many occasions in the past, Virat Kohli made batting look easy when others found the going tough.

Playing with the full face of the bat and oozing confidence, the skipper once again made it seem as if he was playing on a different surface. His 136 towered above what the other batsmen of the two teams managed.

True that Mushfiqur Rahim showed gumption, while Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane also contributed half-centuries which helped their skipper build partnerships that left Bangladesh facing a Herculean task. But Kohli’s innings was a different deal because of the authority it exuded. Barring a few times when he was beaten outside off, he was in control and stroked the ball with a kind of finesse that nobody else matched.

Driving straight, through the covers and caressing it off the pads, he got most things right. On yet another day when India’s bowlers were on top, his batting was the most significant highlight. One reason why Kohli makes things look easy is his clarity of mind. Rarely does he give the impression that he is not sure of what he wants to do.

On Indian pitches, he likes to get on the front foot and so purposeful was his stride on Saturday that his right knee often touched the ground when he lunged forward. Whether it defence or attack, a batsman middling the ball with such surety can have a demoralising effect on the opposition and it was not surprising to see shoulders droop in the Bangladeshi ranks.

“He had once told me that he targets the best bowler of the other team. He wants to score runs off him, so that the other bowlers get an idea of what’s in store of them,” former India batsman Manoj Tiwary told this newspaper.

“We know that he has an enormous appetite for runs and he is willing to work harder than most to get them. Add other plusses like a solid technique, footwork, transfer of weight and correct back lift with follow-through, and it becomes a deadly combination,” added the Bengal veteran, taking a break from TV commentary.

Century No 27 notched up in his 84th Test, Kohli is not the fastest to reach this figure. Don Bradman had got there quicker and Steve Smith has already gone to 26 tons in just 69 Tests. But when it comes to Kohli, there is more than numbers. Sure his statistics are fantastic and frightening — depending on which side of the fence the viewer is — the real value of his batting lies in the impact that it makes on the outcome of matches. When Kohli is on song with the willow, he makes the difference between teams. India’s inaugural day-night Test will bear testimony to that.

41: Tons by Virat Kohli across all formats, joint-most for a skipper. Ricky Ponting is the other to have the same no of tons.

7: Innings declared on the trot by India, the most by a team. They went past England (6 in 2009). 

Rescheduling travel plans

Taking a break from filing reports and sending live updates, a group of journalists from Bangladesh got busy checking the availability of tickets from Kolkata to Dhaka during play on Saturday. Most of them had booked tickets for Wednesday, a day after the scheduled fifth day of play. With this Test headed for a premature finish, they had to start looking for earlier alternatives.

Foreigner on Bengali comms

How often does a former cricketer of a foreign team do TV commentary in an Indian language? Easy. The answer is rarely. When can this happen? For this answer, one had to be at Eden Gardens. Former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar was part of the Bengali commentary panel on Star Sports, with former Bengal cricketers. The Dhaka dialect of the Bengali language is almost the same as what is spoken in Kolkata.

Grandmasters at work

After the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Chief Minister of West Bengal on Day 1, it was the turn of two chess superstars to ring the bell to marks the beginning of a day’s play at Eden Gardens.

Taking part in a top tournament in Kolkata, world champion Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand did the honours on Saturday.

Scoreboard

Bangladesh (1st innings): 106

India (1st innings, o/n 174/3): Kohli c Taijul b Ebadot 136, Rahane c Ebadot b Taijul 51, Jadeja b Jayed 12, Saha 17 n.o, Ashwin lbw Al-Amin 9, Umesh c Shadman b Jayed 0, Ishant lbw Al-Amin 0, Shami 10 n.o. Extras (b12, lb2, w8) 22. Total (9 wkts, 89.4 ovs) 347 decl. FoW: 1-26, 2-43, 3-137, 4-236, 5-289, 6-308, 7-329, 8-330, 9-331. Bowlers: Al-Amin 22.4-3-85-3, Jayed 21-6-77-2, Ebadot 21-3-91-3, Taijul 25-2-80-1

Bangladesh (2nd innings):  Shadman lbw Ishant 0, Kayes c Kohli b Ishant 5, Mominul c Saha B Ishant 0, Mithun c Shami B Umesh 6, Mushfiqur (batting) 59, Mahmudullah (retired hurt) 39, Mehidy c Kohli b Ishant 15, Taijul c Rahane b Umesh 11. Extras (b8, lb4, w5) 17. Total (6 wkts, 32.3 ovs) 152. FoW: 1-0, 2-2, 3-9, 4-13, 5-133, 6-152. Bowling: Ishant 9-1-39-4, Umesh 10.3-0-40-2, Shami 8-0-42-0, Ashwin 5-0-19-0.

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