The ball pings off the middle of the bat. Poof. It’s a rasping slog-sweep from outside off. Both the outfielders are on the leg side – deep midwicket and wide long-on – in the powerplay, but neither has a chance to cut it off.
The slog – and it’s variety – is among the most productive shots for big-hitters in T20 cricket. But Virat Kohli, even at his destructive best, isn’t much of a slogger and relies more on timing the ball. Playing his first T20I in more than a year though, he was prepared to slog at a spinner in the powerplay.
It wasn’t just any spinner. Mujeeb Ur Rahman can turn the ball both ways and can even get the new ball to swing. He is in demand in T20 – and T10 – leagues around the world.
Kohli has had his share of troubles against spin in T20 cricket and has been averse to taking risks against this variety of bowling in the past. But on Sunday, he tore up the old template and bristled with high intent. He hit 29 off 16 balls, with five fours. He tried to hit half of those 16 balls to the boundary, according to ESPNcricinfo’s logs. He took Mujeeb alone for 18 off seven balls at a strike rate of 257.14.
In a middling chase of 173 against an Afghanistan attack that was without its leader Rashid Khan, Kohli could have opted to ease his way in. But he didn’t. Instead, he batted with purpose and looked entirely in sync with the way modern-day T20 cricket is played. Of course, the flat Indore pitch and the fast outfield helped Kohli, but the change in batting approach was clear. A plan is taking shape with the T20 World Cup, in the USA and the West Indies, less than six months away.
Kohli even slogged Naveen-ul-Haq wide of long-on. He also dashed out of the crease to Fazalhaq Farooqi. He kept throwing his hands, hips, and shoulder at the ball despite the odd play-and-miss. He admonished himself when he missed. He also admonished himself when he failed to perfectly recreate that six off Haris Rauf from the 2022 T20 World Cup in Melbourne. Just for the record, this ball that caused Kohli such grievance had also sailed over the rope for six.
Once again, there was precious little reason to be going so hard. This was a choice made by a high-class batter willing to adapt to the world around him. When Kohli tried to pump another boundary down the ground off Naveen, he ended up slicing it to mid-off. He then sat back in the dug-out and watched Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube operate with similar high intent. Jaiswal struck at two runs a ball and Dube just under it as India made a mockery of the chase.
India captain Rohit Sharma has also veered away from a safety-first T20 batting approach. After being run-out for a duck in the first T20I in Mohali, he could have taken his time to settle down in the second, but he chose to go hard from the get-go. He backed away and swung for the hills first ball, but Farooqi bowled full enough to trim the off bail.
Perhaps having capable hitters like Axar Patel and Washington Sundar at Nos. 7 and 8 is giving India’s the top-order batters more freedom to attack. In the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final, India had R Ashwin and Axar at Nos. 7 and 8. Ashwin has improved as a T20 batter, but he is more of a four-hitter than a six-hitter. When Hardik Pandya returns, he will lend even better balance.
India will play just one more T20I, in Bengaluru on Wednesday, before the World Cup in June, but Rohit has already seen enough. He was very pleased with how his batters are refusing to take a backward step.
“We are very clear with what we wanted to do and what we wanted to achieve as well,” he told the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. “[There is a] very clear message to everyone in the team as well and when you see performances like that you can feel proud of it as well. It’s one thing to talk about it and it’s another thing to go out there and actually do it.
“So, I’m happy we’re doing what we are speaking in our changing room and that’s a good positive for us, moving forward. In the last two games that we played, we’ve ticked almost every box, trying certain things in the powerplay, back end, and middle overs as well.”
T20 moves at such a rapid pace that it can leave anyone behind. India, and more specifically Kohli and Rohit, know that better than most. Their last two World Cup campaigns were less than successful because they kept doing the same thing over and over again. Now there is a real desperation to do something different.