CHENNAI: Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis is cooking up a formidable partnership at the top for Bangalore. Their inventiveness and ability to attack the first six overs, taking full use of the field restrictions, has helped the franchise to get ahead of the game. That was on show at Mohali on Thursday.
By the time the powerplay was done, they had put on an unbroken 59. Both batters were looking to hit pacers, trying to move the game along early doors. At this point, Kohli was 29 off 19 with four fours and looking good for more.
Kohli’s latest evolution to stay relevant in this format has seen him go inside out to pace in the first few overs as well as clear the infield on the leg side. That evolution, after a slightly iffy 2022, has brought with it new gifts. He’s taking more chances against that bowling type. It’s resulting in a scoring rate he has never had before. While the sample size may be small (six games), he’s almost scoring 173 runs for every 100 balls.
The evolution, though, has further exaggerated his already below-par numbers against spin. After six matches, he’s scoring 103 runs to every ball. Put it this way. If he faced 20 overs of pace, he will make 207. Against spin, it’s about 124. What this hides is that he isn’t, relatively speaking, bad against spin. He’s just adopted a conservative approach where in he’s happy to knock the ball for 1s and 2s apart from dotting up. If the first 29 had come in 19 balls, his remaining runs — 30 — had come off 27 balls.
In the four years going back to 2020, the 35-year-old’s strike rate against spin is less than 110 but he seldom gets out. In the same time period, spinners dismiss him once every 40 balls or so (13 dismissals in 521 balls). Is it a conscious decision on his part to be conservative against a type of bowling that has caused the former India captain across formats?
Speaking to the host broadcaster after the match, the opener revealed that the plan was to bat deeper to adjust to the conditions. “It (win) does not make us invincible,” he said. “In the first half, the conditions changed. After overs 7-8, the ball really started getting scuffed up. We changed our strategy to bat deeper.” That may well have been the case but that doesn’t hide the fact it’s now a well-established trend.
Even within the context of this season, Kohli has flitted between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde depending on the type of bowling he has faced. Worryingly, it may already cost the franchise a few points. Against Lucknow on April 10, on a honeymoon of a pitch for batters, Kohli scored 33 off 19 against the quicks. When the spinners were in operation, he made 28 off 25 (Du Plessis also produced similar numbers from the game).
While some of the other Bangalore batters had wiped the floor when the spinners were in operation, Kohli batted for caution. Krunal Pandya, Amit Mishra (who ultimately dismissed Kohli in the game) and Ravi Bishnoi conceded 63 off 35 balls to the other batters for a combined ER of over 11. Again Kohli, the same bowlers had conceded an ER of 6.8 (28 off 25).
Cricketer-turned-TV analyst, Ian Bishop, had flagged this habit of Kohli’s last year. This is something we’ve been seeing with Virat, not just this season,” he had mentioned on ESPNCricinfo. “Even last season, I remember, and even sometimes internationally, he’ll fly out — he didn’t fly out tonight — and then he’ll slow down again. So, I’m concerned.”
He did fly against Punjab but ultimately reverted to type against spin. In a format where every over is 5% of an inning, can Kohli continue to bat in this manner irrespective of his increasing returns against pace?
Brief scores: Bangalore 174/4 in 20 ovs (Kohli 59, Du Plessis 84, Brar 2/31) bt Punjab 150 in 18.2 ovs (Prabhsimran 46, Jitesh 41, Siraj 4/21, Wanindu 2/39).