India’s humbling of South Africa in the semi-finals of the World T20 Championship was, to put it simply, spectacular. The target of 173 was stiff, but the manner in which it was chased down made it look almost commonplace.With so much controversy and cynicism in the environment because of the IPL corruption scam, the team has been on the back foot right in recent weeks. In the event, winning five matches on the trot is a terrific achievement.
Given the diabolically uncertain nature of T20, it is impossible to predict what may happen in Sunday’s final. But to reach this far has certainly been a major recovery after months of despair.
A review of the tournament can wait for next week, but it would be both unfair and impossible to ignore the performance of Virat Kohli. His blistering unbeaten 72 on Friday was a tour de force, yet only one of several such innings he has played in the past couple of years.Consensus opinion suggests that he now matches AB de Villiers as the best contemporary willow-wielder. But would it be sacrilegious to say that Kohli today is as good a batsman as Viv Richards and Sachin Tendulkar were when they were 25 years of age?
Perhaps it is. The two ‘master blasters’ would rate amongst the top 10 batsmen in the history of the game. Kohli is probably only one-fourth through his career and it remains to be seen how he fares from here. But I am willing to face all flak and opprobrium in striking up such comparison between him and the iconic Tendulkar and Richards at the same stage in their careers.
The barometer of comparison is not just the volume of runs scored by these batsmen by age 25 though these are not too much at variance but other attributes which define mastery in their craft. Consistency in run-making wherever they play for instance. Over the past couple of years Kohli has become India’s premier batsman with Test and ODI hundreds in Australia, Bangladesh, India, England, South Africa, New Zealand.
The ability to conquer conditions, pitches and opponents alike is the hallmark of top drawer.This is obviously made possible by the ability to adapt their batting to different formats with facility; in Kohli’s case add Twenty20 to Tests and ODIs. Richards of course, never played T20 cricket and Tendulkar played only one T20 international but it is reasonable to presume that they would have excelled in this format too.
The comparison gathers more heft when you consider their approach with bat in hand.While the styles and personalities of Tendulkar, Richards and Kohli are different (Kohli is closer to the West Indian in expression of aggression) they find common ground in their objective in the middle.
Tendulkar and Richards in their pomp would seek to stamp their authority very quickly and tellingly. They would in fact always looked to subjugate the best bowler in the opposition to win the psychological battle. This requires not just fine ability, but also mental toughness.Kohli is cut from the same cloth as we have seen on several occasions and more pertinently in Friday’s semi-final when he got after Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir.
The bigger the challenge, the greater is the motivation to succeed. Runs and strokes for these players is not just simple manifestation of talent and skill. The core is a deep desire to be the best, the motivation for which could
