Four years after a career-defining slump in England, Virat Kohli returns to the UK, having reclaimed his throne in white-ball cricket. Now, he sets his sights on the 2027 World Cup and the milestone of 100 international centuries.
Four years ago, Virat Kohli was on a tour to England, with the shine of his 'King' crown seeming to wear off after over a decade of piling up runs, records and centuries. A string of poor scores followed, causing the superstar batter to take some time off. The whole 2022 series, Virat helplessly searched for his dominant, run-accumulator side that had mysteriously disappeared as the world battled a pandemic and its after-effects. Having given himself a little breather to reflect and observe the forces of time, age and laws of averages catching up with him post the 2022 England series disaster, Virat came back shortly with a vengeful glint in his eye, shaking the rust off his bat and painting his crown gold again with each trophy/record/century secured after in white-ball cricket. Now, with his white-ball cabinet stacked, the 37-year-old returns to the UK with his eyes on the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup title and his fans counting on him for those 15 centuries that would take him to the 'hundred hundreds' milestone, currently held only by Sachin Tendulkar.
The 2022 series: A breaking point
Virat, having not scored an international century since 2019, toured England in July 2022. Despite seven ODI fifties in 18 innings preceding the tour and a rare lull against West Indies at home, it was simply not enough for the fans and experts who had been so accustomed to a Kohli helmet/bat raise or two on a weekly basis. His T20I form heading into the tournament was also consistent, with six half-centuries in 19 innings before the tour and a 47+ average. The England tour did not yield the desired numbers for Virat, serving as an extension of the disastrous series at home against West Indies, where he could score just 26 runs in three innings. In England, Virat's scoresheet read: 1 and 11 in two T20Is and 16 and 17 in two ODIs. Seven white-ball innings without touching the 20-run mark and the constant chatter about him not registering three figures since late 2019 gaining steam with every failure, Virat put his bat aside, taking a month-long break from competitive cricket for much-needed reflection and peace.
Asia Cup 2022: The feast resumes
While things never really worked out for Virat in Test cricket in the post-pandemic era with a questionable game against spin and struggles outside the off-stump line, the Asia Cup 2022 started the run-feast fans had been waiting for. Some strong showings in the group stage paid off, as the century metre finally showed up #71 after a merciless assault on Afghanistan in a dead rubber. After over 1,000 days, the drought was finally snapped and out came relentless consistency and a torrent of runs from Virat's bat in the coming four years.
Post Asia Cup: The big-stepper, the trophy-getter, record-setter in number 18
Since the Asia Cup, despite his underwhelming Test returns, Virat remains among the world's best batters in limited-overs-cricket. With 'luck' and 'clutch' factors by his side, both individual and team titles have rained on the veteran. Across ODIs and T20s since the Asia Cup 2022, Virat has scored 6,045 runs in 135 matches and 132 innings at an average of 57.02, with 13 centuries and 43 fifties. Some of his major accolades include:
*Leading run-getter in T20 World Cup 2022: 296 runs in six innings at an average of 98.66, a strike rate of 136.40, including four fifties.
*Four back-to-back 600+ run IPL seasons, the first player to do so. This includes an Orange Cap season in 2024 with 741 runs in 15 innings at an average of 61.75, at a strike rate of 154+, including a century and five fifties.
*A record-breaking, 'Player of the Tournament' winning World Cup 2023 campaign, with 765 runs in 11 innings at an average of 95.62, with three centuries and six fifties. The tournament saw him outdo Sachin's record of 49 ODI tons in the semi-finals against New Zealand.
*2024 T20 World Cup title with a 'Player of the Match' in the final against South Africa for his knock of 76.
*A solid ICC Champions Trophy winning campaign with 218 runs in five matches, including a century against Pakistan and a brilliant 84 against Australia in the semis, earning him 2 PoTM awards.
*Two back-to-back IPLs with RCB. Virat made it back-to-back this year with a season spanning 675 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 165.84, with a century and five fifties, including 75* in the final.
Eyes on 2027 WC; away matches a challenge
With a sensational run of form since last year, Virat looks all set for mission 2027 in South Africa. Still a sharp force during run-chases and an all-conquering superstar in limited-overs cricket, Virat will head into England with hopes of another superheroic performance. Instead of helplessness and desperation of the last tour, he would be wearing his 'King' suit again, with 'C' standing for chases and conquering print right in front. In 16 matches and 16 innings since last year, Virat has made 891 runs at an average of 68.53, with four centuries and five fifties. Since beginning his career as an ODI exclusive player in Australia last year, the 'King' has been dealing in centuries and fifties. In the last nine innings starting from the Australia tour, he has scored 616 runs at an average of 88, with three centuries and as many half-centuries. However, this decade, Virat has been rather modest by his standards in ODIs away from home, scoring 1,003 runs in 31 matches and 28 innings at an average of 40.12, with three centuries and seven fifties. His post 2022 Asia Cup away ODIs are not much spectacular, having made 606 runs in 17 innings at an average of 43.28, including three centuries and two fifties, with plenty of sub-par scores in between these moments of brilliance. (ANI)
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