3, 22, 1, 8—those have been Virat Kohli’s scores in four international white ball games in Cuttack during which he has played all of 33 balls.
Kohli’s aggregate of 34 at the Barabati Stadium is his lowest among all venues in India where he has played at least three matches. And he goes into Sunday’s series-deciding One-day International here having scored 4 and 0 in the earlier games of this ODI series, in Chennai and Visakhapatnam.
Cuttack contradicts all that Kohli stands for. He who scores runs with focus that is unwavering—Kohli is the fastest to 10,000 ODI runs getting to the landmark in 205 innings 54 less than what Sachin Tendulkar took—one who has made Virat and vivacity interchangeable in the context of batting and who averaged 133.55 in ODIs in 2018.
Kohli reminds Viv Richards of himself; he is the next chosen one, said Martin Crowe.
“He exudes the intensity of Dravid, the audacity of Sehwag, and the extraordinary range of Tendulkar. That doesn’t make him better, simply sui generis, his own unique kind,” Crowe had said.
It is one of cricket’s quirks that Kohli and Cuttack haven’t been the best of pals; an oddity like this amphitheatre where new architecture sits incongruously next to the old.
A reminder too that even for the best in business this stays a one-ball game.
The last time an ODI was played here, against England on January 19, 2017, Kohli made eight in five balls.
India’s third over began with Kohli hitting two off-driven boundaries off Chris Woakes but ended with him edging a delivery wide outside off-stump to Ben Stokes at second slip.
From 22/2, India were 25/3 after 4.4 overs when Woakes got Shikhar Dhawan and it took every bit of belligerence and brilliance Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni could conjure for India to win the match and the series.
