Published: May 20, 2016, 12:09 PM (IST)
Edited: May 20, 2016, 12:27 PM (IST)
Virat Kohli has been in the form of his life in the last few months. The Indian vice-captain and RCB Captain has taken over the job of scoring the majority of the runs for whichever side he plays for. Former Indian batsman turned commentator Sunil Gavaskar was like many more than impressed with Kohli’s performances in the current season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Gavaskar wrote in his column for TOI – “Is he for real? Or is he like those mythical figures like Batman as the Universe Boss calls him? Or Superman with the bat and Captain Marvel when he is leading the team? A fourth century in one season of IPL! That is unheard of.” FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab , Full Score, 50th T20 Match, IPL 2016
The Indian batting legend further continued saying – “It’s hard enough to get a fifty in this ultrashort format of the game and he has four hundreds. That’s simply mindbogglingly staggering. He is more than living up to the name that his parents gave him. Virat means mammoth, massive, colossal, humongous -you take your pick, even as the bowlers struggle to pick the line and length to bowl to him because nothing is working at all. Maybe they should look to lace the ball with kryptonite, for that may work. These are times to simply let your jaw slacken and enjoy watching a batsman who is taking batting to a level that is usually seen by the Gods.We are fortunate to to be able to see what’s unfolding before us. Don’t forget there is another player in that team, AB, who also has a magic wand in his hands and not a bat, and to overshadow him is a feat in itself.” ALSO READ: Virat Kohli then and now: An analysis of the changes he made since England Tour 2014
Kohli injured his left-hand while fielding, in the match against KKR and got stitches but still managed to score a century for his RCB side against KXIP in the very next match. Gavaskar wrote for TOI – “The stitches in his left-hand, which is the dominating hand for a right handed batsman, didn’t seem to affect him on Wednesday night at all as he carved out an innings that made the Kings XI Punjab look even more hopeless than what they have seemed throughout this season. The win has catapulted Bangalore into the second position and gives them the chance to qualify for the playoffs.Apart from the teams vying for a place in the qualifiers and their diehard fans, there is nobody who would want to miss out on the chance to see Virat Kohli bat again and again in the form he is in at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will be facing Delhi Daredevils (DD) in a crucial tie for the latter in the 52nd match of IPL 9. Gavaskar expects the game to be a close-one. He wrote – “The game between Delhi and Hyderabad is crucial for Delhi as they attempt to recover from their poor performance against the Pune team. They will be up against a top bowling unit, on a surface about which not much is known. The Hyderabad batting is also in form and the Delhi bowlers will have to pull out something special to contain the likes of David Warner and company .Hyderabad will want to win because that will make them pretty much the number one team in group stage.”
