Virat Kohli spent time in the nets ahead of the second Test (AFP Image)
Virat Kohli is playing a Test match for the first time after the pavilion stand was renamed
At the start of any match, you have the eastern sky as your backdrop when you walk out of the player’s pavilion at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground at the Arun Jaitley Stadium; And a quick glance at the pale golden light passing over the player’s pavilion helps you become familiar with daylight.
Virat Kohli must have been on that walk countless times.
It would have been the same pavilion where, in 2006, following the death of his father, the then-18-year-old upstart would have found his way through what was probably the lowest point of his young life. He must have looked back in the hope of gaining strength from the sunlight falling on him. Kohli would eventually score a match-saving 90 for Delhi on the same day – an emotional box story for the major dailies.
Perhaps this was the day Virat Kohli’s success story was set in stone – long before his U-19 debut World Cup Victory.
After 17 years, Kohli is all set to walk the walk once again on February 9, but this time as the country’s most loved, city’s own, most successful player of his generation, the GOAT, a global superstar no less. And as he looks back, having achieved practically all that is available, he can bask in the glory of that faded golden light; And he’ll also get an embossed typography on the player’s pavilion – Virat Kohli Pavilion.
When the stadium was renamed the Arun Jaitley Stadium in 2019 in honor of the former DDCA president, the player pavilion stand was renamed the ‘Virat Kohli Pavilion’ and this would be the first time that a former DDCA president India After changing the name, the captain will play Test matches.
Kohli last played a Test at his home ground in Delhi in 2017 and fond memories of that trip will be with him. He scored 243 from 287 balls in the first innings – his fourth Test double – and then added 50 in the second. This was the time when Kohli was at the peak of his power. In that series, he scored 104* at Eden and 213 at Nagpur.
This will be Kohli’s fourth Test at the Kotla. His first was against Australia in 2013 (1 and 41), second against South Africa in 2015 (44 and 88) and last against Sri Lanka.
Read this also | Hard to say how Virat Kohli will perform in Delhi Test: Former Indian opener
He comes into the game on the back of a drought of 21 matches without a century. While the propensity to rack up a triple figure is not the only parameter to measure a player’s form, his average during this spell (since 27 November 2019 – his last Test century), has been almost half of his career average. Has gone. He has 929 runs at 25.80 in 21 matches as against his career average of 48.68. From his debut in 2011 till November 2019, the former Indian captain had a career average of 55.68.
Kohli grabbed headlines when he arrived for the practice session in his black Porsche Panamera, but what went unnoticed was the fervor with which he practiced for an hour away from the public eye two days before the Test. Was. He did not travel with the team and in the company of India ‘A’ regulars Saurabh Kumar, the left-arm spinner, Kohli.
Trying to replicate the potentially abrasive pitch at the Kotla, Kohli bowled Kumar outside off stump on a rough patch that he had built up and bowled counter deliveries in and around that area. He danced down the track and missed a few; He left some in an attempt to pull some halfway through; His forward lunges and defense weren’t as assured as we’ve seen, but there was clearly an intention to improve.
Kohli averages just 26 against spin in the last 22 innings and has also been a victim of the tweakers 12 times – six each for left-handed batsmen and right-handed batsmen. While Australia’s XI is still unclear as to how they will include their two left-arm spinners – Ashton Agar and Matt Kuhnman. Kohli must be tired of threats from Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon.
In Nagpur, Kohli got a bit unlucky with his dismissal, juggling a faint edge down the legside for Carey to complete the catch and he would look to make amends at his home ground.
And when he walks out to bat in the second Test here and Virat Kohli gazes at the pavilion, he will have enough inspiration to make the occasion special, sweeter and more memorable.
get the latest cricket news Here
