Mumbai: Virat Kohli jumped with joy, punched the air and yelled out loud to celebrate his hundred in Ranchi in the first ODI against South Africa on Sunday. A batter with more ODI tons than anyone else to have played the game, still had the same intense emotions while getting to his 52nd. It signalled the star batter’s burning desire towards his future ambitions.
This hundred took nine months coming, but only because this is the sole format he now plays. Otherwise, it had been only seven ODIs since his century against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy; that’s close to his phenomenal career record of getting to an ODI ton every six matches.
It is the months of inactivity that have kept Kohli in the news since his Test retirement. There has been constant chatter around Kohli’s changed world, since the former captain cut his international workload by two thirds. It’s been a rough life, if you went by the news.
When Kohli kissed the pendant around his neck, shared love with the crowd, folded hands to the skies to cap his hundred celebrations, it showed he wasn’t untouched by the noise. One could feel his sense of accomplishment and relief in equal measure.
In the previous series against Australia, the rust that a long interval away from top flight cricket could lead to was evident in his first two ODIs with no scores. Here, Kohli was up and running even before the Ranchi crowd was fast filling up the stands following news that the hosts were batting first.
Walking in at No 3 in the fourth over, Kohli outscored Rohit Sharma in the powerplay. Now that’s an event on its own given how much of a hurry the latter is usually in with his changed batting template in recent times. After 20 overs, Kohli was still scoring at a faster clip than Rohit with India going at 8 runs per over.
For once, the meticulous accumulator had decided to go aerial early, smacking two straight sixes with the field up. Before returning to his staple diet of ones and twos, Kohli kept aiming for a high boundary percentage. This after he was clear, the pitch could be trusted while the ball was new.
There was only one close shave that took his outside edge. But the right hander was largely in control, check driving first, then straight driving, cover driving with such authority that the bowlers knew they were in for a torrid time. Once sure of his off stump, Kohli began branching out for more strokes in his innings. He went aerial with the left-armers’ angles against Marco Jansen and Nandre Burger. He charged Ottneil Baartman and sent him many rows back in the stands; held his shape while the TV cameras admired the picture. The longer Kohli stayed at the crease, South Africa’s bowlers began losing their control in the din of the crowd.
After his hundred, Kohli went into overdrive mode, giving harsh treatment to off spinner Prenelan Subrayen in particular. Getting his swinging arc going, the 39th over accounted for 19 runs. Kohli’s charge was ultimately cut short in the 43rd over for 135 (120b, 11×4,7×6), but he had laid the foundation for a strong total.
Even if this wasn’t a ton in a run chase, that it helped India punch South Africa back after the Test defeat, Kohli had played his part in bringing home comfort back to the change room. There was all-round applause for Indian ODI cricket’s batting backbone while he raised his bat to the entire stadium during his walk back.
