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STUMP VISION MAY 23, 2025 | The Indian Eye 42

VIRAT KOHLI

From Chennai to Centurion: Batters’s five

late career-gems symbolising grit, resilience

and trademark kingly dominance

OUR BUREAU 201 balls, with 12 fours and a six. He
was the ninth wicket to fall for 211
Mumbai
runs. While India lost the game by
egendary Indian batter Virat seven wickets and the series too, this
Kohli on Monday pulled down knock stands out as one of his gritti-
Lthe curtains on a 14-year-long, est and controlled efforts.
123 match big Test career which will 186 AGAINST AUSTRALIA,
be fondly remembered for the mas- AHMEDABAD, MARCH 2023:
sive highs it touched as much as the
puzzling and heartbreaking lows that irat’s first Test hundred in
truly make his long-format statistics a four years. While Virat was
case of “What it could have been?”. Vunderwhelming in the Bor-
Here are some late-career gems from der-Gavaskar Trophy at home and
Virat in the decade of the 2020s: vulnerable to Australia’s newest spin
74 AGAINST AUSTRALIA, duo of Matthew Kuhnemann and
ADELAIDE, DECEMBER 2020: Todd Murphy, his battle with old foe
Nathan Lyon took the centrestage.
ndia was 32/2 after opting to bat After retaining the trophy, both sides
first. This high-pressure situation were treated to an absolute flattie of
Iwas a perfect entry point for Vi- a wicket, and they took it with both
rat. With the pink ball moving really hands. Virat tamed Lyon well on a
good, Virat batted with serenity, con- surface that did not offer much help,
trasting with the ball’s cunning ways. scoring 61 in 152 balls against him
He took down spinner Nathan Lyon with four boundaries. Overall, he
with some fine shots down the ground ended with 186 in 364 balls, with 15
and trademark drives, and continued fours, guiding India to 571 in reply to
his upper hand over Mitchell Starc. Australia’s first innings total of 480.
Virat’s footwork and temperament The match ended in a draw, but fans
was on point. It looked certain that got their money’s worth thanks to this
the Adelaide Oval crowd was set to Virat marathon.
witness the fourth century from Virat. 76 AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA,
However, a miscommunication with CENTURION, DECEMBER 2023:
Ajinkya Rahane led to his run out af-
ter a 74 in 180 balls, with eight fours. Virat Kohli (ANI) ith South Africa having a
The partnership broke at 88 runs, and commanding lead follow-
it was all downhill from India from Wing a Dean Elgar master-
that point. faced a brilliant fightback from spin- 79 AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA, class of 185, India had to cut down
While the 36-all-out scoreline in ners Mooen Ali and Jack Leach. on a 163-run deficit. Against a fiery
the second innings perhaps haunted Virat, coming in at 55/2, put CAPE TOWN, JANUARY 2022: pace unit of Kagiso Rabada, Marco
the public and Indian players for a up a remarkable fight against two n the final Test at Cape Town with Jansen, and Nandre Burger, India
few days after the loss, it also marked frontline spinners. He scored 62 in the series levelled 1-1, Virat’s looked helpless. On the other hand,
the starting point of Virat’s decline 149 balls, with seven fours, including Imen had a rare chance to regis- Virat batted with the tempo of an
in Tests, as in the coming days came four against Leach and two against ter their first-ever series win in SA. ODI game in a different universe al-
several poor scores and missed op- Moeen. His slog sweep against Virat’s entry point was India at 33/2. together. With delightful trademark
portunities to score a century. Moeen emerged as one that fans The veteran batter was mindful cover drives, backfooted shots, pulls,
62 AGAINST ENGLAND, could smash the replay button for with each step he took, each bat swing and overall wearing a majestic look,
CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 2021: hours. His rock-solid defence and he put forward against South African Virat’s batting was every fan’s dream
quick footwork helped him stay on bowlers. The majority of his bound- come true. While he could not pre-
fter a loss in the first Test, In- the crease and stitch a 96-run sev- aries were his trademark drives, par- vent an innings defeat for India as
dia looked on course of a se- enth-wicket stand with Ravichandran ticularly through the covers, pulls etc. he ran short of partners, Virat gave a
Aries-levelling win after gaining Ashwin. By the time he was eighth While the backfoot offense was pret- proof of his otherworldly ability in SA,
a 195-run lead in the second Test. wicket gone at 202, he had done his ty limited, Virat nonetheless put on scoring 76 in 82 balls, with 12 fours
However, India’s bid to swell its lead job well. a resilient performance, scoring 79 in and a six, with India all out at 131.

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