Virat Kohli is the last Indian cricketer to take a wicket in a T20 World Cup semi-final match. Facts. Virat Kohli, despite the upheaval of his team, ended up being the most prized wicket in the tournament. Also a fact.
But here’s what cannot be falsed:
It’s disheartening to say the least given the way India lost the match to England by 10 wickets in a big semi-final match on Nov 10, 2022 at Adelaide.
That’s going to hurt for a while.
But again, you win some, you lose some.
But you live, you live to fight another day. The Indian team did vice-versa, they didn’t even show some fight and this was not the first time Indian cricket fans’ hearts got broken.
The Indian team’s performances in ICC tournaments have not been really convincing since the 2013 Champions Trophy win in England against England.
Here is the list of the ICC events where the Indian team misfired consistently:
- T20 World Cup 2014 Final
- ODI World Cup 2015 Semi-Final
- T20 World Cup 2016 Semi-Final
- Champions Trophy 2017 Final
- ODI World Cup 2019 Semi-Final,
- World Test Championship 2021 Final
- T20 World Cup 20 2022 Semi-Final
One more thing is consistent and that is Virat Kohli’s form in T20 World Cups. The leading run-scorer has been delivering top-notch performances in the ICC men’s T20 World Cup.
| Virat Kohli in T20 World Cups | |||
| T20 WC | Runs | SR | Avg |
| 2012 | 185 | 122.51 | 46.25 |
| 2014 | 319 | 136.41 | 98.67 |
| 2016 | 273 | 146.77 | 136.5 |
| 2021 | 68 | 100.00 | 34.00 |
| 2022 | 296 | 136.41 | 98.67 |
The 34-year-old dethroned Mahela Jayawardene from first place for the most runs in T20 internationals. Virat Kohli also became the first ever player to score 4000 runs in T20I matches during his 50* innings against England in the semi-final match that did not result in India’s favor.
25 innings, 1,141 runs, 14 fifties, 2 wickets, 2 man-of-the-tournament awards, and the pressure he absorbed during high-intensity games.
It’s been an amazing journey of ups and downs. It’s not easy being Virat Kohli.
The former Indian cricket captain’s lack of form in the T20 World Cup 2021 triggered too many questions against him as he managed to score only 68 runs in five matches with an average of just 34.
Critics even suggested the team management to drop Virat Kohli from the T20 World Cup 2022 squad as the run-machine was going through a lean patch in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League.
We all know what happened next. King Kohli answered back with his bat.
The number 3 batter surpassed his total score of 68 runs in WT20 2021 in the last ball thriller first match of the 2022 World Cup against arch-rival Pakistan.
Virat Kohli played an innings to remember for decades, he smashed 82* off just 53 deliveries with the assistance of four huge sixes and six cracking fours.
Kohli gave his all to make his dream of winning the ICC trophy in the T20 World 2022 but he couldn’t do it.
England hold the mirror to India; wonder what did India see?
England’s openers showed the mirror to the Indian team in the semi-final clash which resulted in a disappointing humiliating 10-wicket loss.
One of the key reasons for India’s exit from the T20 WC is the poor show by Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in the powerplay.
The Indian team scored poorly with an average powerplay run rate of 6.02 which is the second worst among 16 sixteen teams.
India paid the price of showing too much dependency on run-machine Virat Kohli and the rising 360* player Surya Kumar Yadav.
SKY is the only batter in the Indian team who starts hitting the ball from the very first ball, the rest of them take some to settle which is not the right approach to playing T20 cricket.
Openers really-really need to get out of their comfort zone and start utilizing the powerplay conditions, otherwise, the story will be the same in the coming World Cups.
Virat Kohli is the leading run-scorer in the World Cup 2022.
It’s a fact that is well-established and yet, one that couldn’t quite take the team over the ropes for little fault of the ‘King.’
But here’s some food for thought:
Virat Kohli also needs to gear up his strike rate initially, because if he gets out early scoring a run-a-ball 30, then the incoming batter would feel the pressure of scoring runs with a strike rate north of 200.
That’s in order to achieve a 180+ score. Don’t you think?
Should these loopholes or shall we say, work-in-progress areas are worked upon, then who knows what might India do next, since the 2023 World Cup (ODI) is breathing down on us already.
