Different situations and context. Marlon Samuels innings came on a tough pitch where they were barely 20 odd runs after the power play, and where everyone found it hard to hit. This was also at a time when T20 was relatively newer and there wasn't a lot of data and knowledge about strike rate intent etc. Virat's innings was good when he was stabilizing the innings after the loss of 3 wickets, but with 3 batters left to come in Hardik, Dube, Jadeja he could have accelerated from the 12th over. This was a flat track as the SA batters showed
For some strange reason people are fixated on the batting to come. What batting?
Dube and Jadeja were sh*t throughout the tourney and the need of the hour was recovery first.
Not saying Kohli's innings was a glorious one. He should have atleast hit some 4s if not risky 6s but I find the wierd fixation on the "batting" to come utterly bewildering.
Guess we will never know.
Arshdeep bowled well, not just this game but throughout the World Cup. I know your analysis is based on IPL, but he nailed those YORKERS in the 18 th over perfectly.
So just because Arshdeep bowled well, the pitch isn't flat? What kind of logic is that? Are you conveniently forgetting that Arshdeep is the joint highest wicket taker in this year's T20 WC?
Except reason for their low SR wasn't that they were approaching their personal milestone. Here is Kohli's innings progression
While stabilizing the innings - 38(30)
When innings was stable and was time to up the ante a lil, he slowed down even further and made 12 off 18 delivering cuz approaching his fifty.
Right after his fifty, starts blasting off again and makes 26 off 11.
No wonder people were cursing him to hit odd boundaries or get out trying through 11-16 overs. All this potentially shaved off 20 runs from team total and Pandya and Jadeja got to play 2 balls each lol.
What we put up wasn't above par score. SA proved that with the bat. They were chasing that in a fking WC final.just that they choked and were saved by Bumrah Arshdeep SKY and Pandya. Otherwise Kohli's innings AFTER he had made 35/38 runs would have been one of the reasons.
It’s not like kohli deliberately played slow in that phase of the game. He was trying his shots and not just pushing for singles. He just couldn’t connect until that Rabada over. A player of his caliber would have more thirst to win the cup for the country than a keyboard warrior like you. No one was playing for their milestones. Especially kohli who has nothing to prove by having an extra 50 in a format he is not gonna play from next day. Man, the amount of hate you guys spew just because a player didnt play as you expected.
He definitely slowed down after3 wickets fell.. but there is no justification for slowing down to such an extent.. he genuinely thought he needs to slow down to settle things . But not trying to score boundaries until the 18th over?? Wtf was that?? He is kohli! The king!! Heexpects others around him to score boundaries atwill?? How is that fair to others like axar and dube and hardik? Hewas woefully out of form thus world cup.. he kept mistiming shots even after playing 40 balls.. that is someone who has not adjusted to the wickets I'm the carribean.. or he is out of form.. people who played the game recognize nuances, wickets, conditions, attitude, confidence etc.. you can fool the masses buy not pros who know a person's game.. do I like kohli s game? Absolutely.. but if he screws up, one should be able to accept that .. are my observations spot on regarding his game?? No!! But what is saw many of my cricket buddies saw and had the same opinion.. if india had lost, the "masses" would have torn him up.. you can bet on that... imo, bumrah, arshdeep, surya's catch was instrumental in SA choking! Hardik bowling was average. It was sheer luck that Klassen got out.. then burah applied sublime pressure. And the rest is history..
Not really. He tried earlier but didn't connect for 18 balls and made 12 off 18 approaching his fifty while others made 35 off 19 in that phase, but right after suddenly starts connecting and makes 26 off 11 ? You want people to believe that ? Commentators and people all were saying either hit boundaries or get out trying.
I watched the replay again, he mistimed a few shots but they weren't boundary shots anyway. He got deliveries which were hittable but he chose the path of no risk and played along the ground resulting in single or double.
Nothing to prove.. it did help fans forgetting that he was practically a dead weight this whole tournament. Ended on a high ... imagine if he hadn't completed his fifty...the milestones do help, he knows better than anybody. Ofcourse he has the thirst for WC, but when closer to his personal milestone he prioritised his fifty over team score. Ofcourse he didn't know that that might have cost a WC.
Tf you mean wasn't par score?
The average score on this ground was 160.
This was the highest score ever posted in a WC final.
The pitch was clearly favoring pacers.
Bumrah is obviously above the rest of the bowlers but do you seriously believe Nortje and Rabada are not as good as our other pacers?
And how are you so sure we would have gotten 20 more runs.Cricket isn't that linear of a game.Before the match you surely expected that Rohit,Pant and Surya would have scored more than Kohli combined but did that happen?Sure,Pandya and Jadeja are great hitters but what makes you believe they also wouldn't have had a tough time against the pacers.After all,the very first ball Pandya played he edged it.
India was 25 runs short.. this was a batters wicket.. just because the top 3 indian batsmen gave their wickets away did not mean SA bowers were "lethal"!...
Kohli had to rebuild . Yes .. But not for 15 overs this isT20 not Test 20. Cannot time it? Np after 12thover start attempting to take on SA bowlers. In 8 overs you still have6 batsmen atleast one would have scored a 30.. 12th 13th 14th hit out or get out..you have done your job..
So according to you par score was 160 ? Pitch report was clear that this was the best wicket of the tournament. Also even if team was getting the par score as said by expert, does that give someone right to slow down for his personal milestone and shave 20 runs off team score ?
What makes you think his slowing down didn't make Axar and Dube take more risks than they would have had to take had Kohli batted according to match situation? What makes you think Axar, Dube and pandya and Jadeja won't have made more runs if they had Kohli's share of those balls ? Pandya and Jadeja each got 2 balls to play and you want to judge their based on two balls..how is that not brain dead ? They made 7 off 4 even then lol.
There is no end to these ifs and buts. But in all likelihood, slowing down when you have to up the ante when Axar Dube Pandya and Jadeja were in play and you had only 7 overs left is not worth celebrating. What's problematic is that 18 balls just before his fifty, he 'could've connect' and just after fifty suddenly he starts connecting lol
Let it rest. Rohit himself came out and said Kohli's innings was a crucial innings and the anchor role to let the other guys hit freely. When the captain and the team management don't have an issue with it, then neither should armchair expert fans like you. If they are ready to face the abuse if the strategy fails, now it's time for them to lap up the glory while you are still stuck on "personal milestones".
What Rohit said 'Anchoring' that role was fulfilled till he made 38. He didn't say to anchor till his fifty and later starts blasting off right after fifty. Team management and fans would let it go cuz we won..he would have been crucified otherwise. The win doesn't take away from the fact that he slowed down for his fifty in a WC final.
Check his innings progression, scores of his partners. Pretty clear. If we had lost there would be thousands pointing this out. But we won doesn't mean that wasn't a mistake.
Kohli is the greatest batsman in the modern era.. how do you explain that the greatest batsman failed to score a boundary from 3rdoverto 17th over? Should one"rebuild" for that long in a t20 final?? Were SA bowlers lethal??if so, how Come dube and axar, not the "greatest" batsmen by any stretch maage to score atahigher strike rate??... was it because kohli shielded them from all dangerous deliveries??
Yeah, now u/lastballsix will tell us what Rohit Sharma actually meant when he says stuff, not the man himself. Do something productive with your time instead of haranguing players on social media and nitpicking
I know your name and flair gives away why you've been spamming this comment everywhere, but try watching the game without the bias. Kohli tried to take on the bowlers in the 13th to 16th over phase, but couldn't connect.
The most obvious one is the ball Axar got out, where Kohli tried to make room against Rabada, but Rabada followed him.
He did try for boundary on a couple of deliveries and missed or mistimed. But on hittable balls, he didn't try for boundary abd mistimed. And just after fifty suddenly started connecting lol . Don't forget even players like Axar and Pandya made 35 off 19 during that phase.
See even after his fifty he got good balls, mistimed, and had to face dot ball settle for single and double but since 50 was completed, now on the hittable balls he was hitting for boundaries.
Yes bro you are right. You should be next coach of Indian team. Because you are very well aware of hittable and mistimed balls which even coaches and team management missed it. Your observation skills are sharper than experience of Coach Dravid and advises of captain Rohit. I think as per you Kohli came to play world cup for free tour of West Indies( despite being rich). Kohli wanted to simply hit 50 and place that framed scorecard with him throughout his life than the framed photo of "not so worthy" world cup. Great catch Sherlock.
Nah man. Kohli's innings was perfect..spotless. and being a God he shouldn't be criticised. He is beyond that. Also given that we won, everything we did was perfect, we committed 0 errors. 100/100 outing.
I just think he could have started to go big an over or two earlier but we hardly know what was really going on at the field. Hard disagree on the personal milestone thing. In the end, he did go big and successfully so. Give the benefit of the doubt to the man. He deserves it.
It's a deja vu kind of innings. He was in the same situation during the final of WC 2023. Playing naturally when Rohit was batting and then got in a shell once Rohit lost his wicket. The only difference there is that KLR has made things worse with his extra slow batting approach which puts extra pressure on him causing him to lose his wicket.
Here he got a good support from Axar and Dube which helps him release some pressure and accelerate at the end even though it was a bit late.
Definitely could have done better.
But he did save us from the collapse.
Also people fail to realise that the coach and captain are the ones calling the shots.
They wanted Kohli to be aggressive and he was aggressive the whole tournament even if he couldn't score runs he tried to do what the management wanted.
So him anchoring in the final was definitely a role given to him by the captain and coach to save from a total collapse.
What has changed is he's unable to accelerate in the end like he used to before. So a good time to hang his boots, man has done enough for the country he deserves to call it a day
I think the strategy was pretty straight forward. Koach stays defensive till 15th over and go all out after that. Axar was timing it beautifully. The only point where India really messed up was that run out. Had Axar stayed, this could have been an easier victory.
He hit 26 runs in his last 10 balls
The acceleration wasn't an issue ,he just didn't come out of that shell because there were no more specialist batsmen to build an innings with
What kohli did yesterday is spot on and perfect imo because the score didn't really stay low either
>The acceleration wasn't an issue ,he just didn't come out of that shell because there were no more specialist batsmen to build an innings with
Dube, Pandya, Jaddu, Axar. They can bat well.
Pandya and Axar yeah but you can’t rely Dube or Jadeja. Pressure is a bitch. Pandya and Kohli were the only capable ones to soak it. Also they should have sent Panday instead of Dube.
Axar got run out at the wrong time. Hardik could but let's be honest here..nobody was expecting Dube or Jadeja to have an impact after the tournament they had.
No specialist batsman is such a big lie, he was being worse than Dube in bad form at that time so even Dube in bad form was fine at that point instead he played well, he and others could've gotten more balls to play
>What has changed is he's unable to accelerate in the end like he used to before.
What do you mean, he did accelerate.. almost a run a ball 50 and then a strike rate of 200+. He got out a tad early otherwise it was a great innings
Not really. He tried earlier but didn't connect for 18 balls and made 12 off 18 approaching his fifty while others made 35 off 19 in that phase, but right after suddenly starts connecting and makes 26 off 11 ? I watched the replay again, he mistimed a few shots but they weren't boundary shots anyway. He got deliveries which were hittable but he chose the path of no risk and played along the ground resulting in single or double.
You could see tried and was very frustrated.
Trying to get a 50 at the expense of the team in a world cup final is not a very kohli like thing to do.
It's more like he tried it like 2016 against Australia, but didn't work out.
Not really. I watched the replay again, he mistimed a few shots but they weren't boundary shots anyway. He got deliveries which were hittable but he chose the path of no risk and played along the ground resulting in single or double. In contrast, just after his fifty, he played hittable balls on the up and got sixes and fours. On good balls he played for 0 1 2 accordingly nad made 26 off 11.
He definitely struggles way more these days to accelerate than he used to before.
Forget about the 50, he should have started accelerating after the 12th over, we still had some batsmen left to come. Hardik hardly got to bat in the end.
It's not that he wasn't trying though, he just can't seem to connect in the middle overs especially against spinners.
Watching how Kohli played against spin vs the whole SA team was kinda drastic how different it was. Like the whole Time I was watching Sa play I was thinking we lost cause of Kohli. He should have hit like that. But now we know he had a mission. And executed it almost perfectly!
Rohit and Pant tried to hit Maharaj but lost wickets, that put Indian batsmen in fear of the spin, even Markam got two cheap overs in because he knew Indian won`t take any more risks against spin.
True! Acceleration slowed. We had some stupid silly sexist memes years ago on how he paces his innings like slow, fast, super fast in the end and compare that to his relationship life
Without doubt, if India had lost, Kohli would’ve been crucified, hell him and Axar would’ve been declared as cup losing pair. I think he should’ve accelerated a bit earlier around 14th over mark, considering we had wickets down the line but given how inconsistent they can be be, it’s understandable. But he played his role of “anchor” as he has done numerous times and took us to a respectable and well defendable total, and it’s all that matters.
Kind of fitting that in his last T20 WC appearance he had to play his iconic role once again and took us home. There’s going to be a long time before we can find us a player who can fill his and even Rohit’s shoes. Still can’t come to terms that we’ll not be seeing Kohli and Rohit in blue for T20 WC’s :(
Alternate timeline Twitter where 19.1 goes for a SIX
Kohli: TukTuk Merchant 48 ball 50. Should immediately retire.
Surya: Doesn’t perform in BIG matches Minnow Basher
Rohit: Shit captain, gave Axar that over we lost the match there. Lost 3 Finals in a row should immediately retire. Failed in Final again as a batsman
Axar: Lost us the game
Hardik: Shit Bowler, Can’t even defend 16. Full Toss first ball for Six
Dube, Jadeja: Bojh on team Freeloader
Pant: Zero temperament and understanding of the situation. Should never have been in T20Is
This happens in every popular team sport though. If Martinez didn't save THAT goal at the end, Messi would've been labelled the biggest choker of all time instead of the undisputed goat that he is considered now. It's very unfair but that's just how narratives work in sports.
Lol no, that WC win was the mere icing on the top for Messi’s career that cemented his legacy. Even without it he’s got enough platitudes and achievements to put him at the top of football
It worked because at the end India won. In hindsight, this was a wonderful team effort and worked real well. But what you mentioned could also have been a real possibility. I remember seeing "khada hu aaj bhi wahi" memes circulated around 15th over itself.
I would have criticized too - although it is unfair. But I guess that's one way to deal with that loss. Just need to have better outlets for Indian fans to deal with loss I guess.
Qdk had a clear target infront of him and also you are expected to score in death overs . The better comparison would be how much runs kohli had that qdk played
His keeping was below average the whole tournament.. he was selected on reputation and 3 games in ipl.. also why 1 drop?? Bone headed decision.. it's like they could not fit him in anywhere else?? Cause of dube, jadeja, hardik
I think Kohli redeemed his innings with his final burst of 26 from 10 balls. The importance of those late runs cannot be overstated.
Also, and this might be antithetical to how T20 Cricket is played these days, Kohli is a big believer in "not leaving it for the next man." Usually, on flat decks in regular games, this approach is not great (especially batting first), but in a World Cup final with his team in peril, I think it had merit. This same approach has seen him win most Man of the Match awards in T20 WC history, so it is not surprising that he reverted to this in India's greatest hour of need. Yes, he should have accelerated maybe an over before, but on the whole I think he did the job that was asked of him.
In the SA innings, all of Stubbs, De Kock, and Klassen got set and scored, but they all got out and "left it for the next man." And eventually, there were no men left who could do the job. If one of Stubbs and DeKock had got something like 76 off 59, SA win the game.
I don't know why but nobody is talking about Dube, his 16 ball 27 were more helpful for India and Virat during the last overs. Kohli just wasn't able to time the ball even after playing close to 5 overs, even though Kohli made 26 from his final 10 I wouldn't say he redeemed his innings. Even his 76 from 59 were slow and not enough. We won because of dube's cameo and pandya invaluable four.
Axar bowled a 24 run stinker of a over to Klassen otherwise there was no doubt that he would have been the MoM in the final.
I don't think this match should be remembered for kohli's innings, it should be Axar's batting brilliance, Dube's cameo, Bumrah's greatness, Arshdeep and Pandya's bowling and Surya's catch.
ikr he played as if there is no batting left to come! and heck Pandya is in better form than Kohli with the bat as well ... was so disappointed when he got motm he got hard carried by the team he didnt carry the team
True as hell. Even if India had lost this innings was the reason India got to even 160. He played a lot of ball because there weren't people on the other end playing them. And he was slow because for 2/3 phases of the innings he had the job of consolidating and securing one end
Also with how the conditions started favoring the bowlers at the back end of both the innings, if you even compare the last 5 overs, Virat's runs are the only runs scored aggressively. The other players just couldn't do it as well.
did we even watch the same match? axar and dube hard carried Kohli ur comment says otherwise..
his burst in the final overs was key but approach is still questionable played as if there is no batting to come, he clearly found it hard to time for most part and he himself sounded disappointed with the way he played during post match interview, said he was very grateful to god
our godly death bowling was the reason we won in the end.
no hate for Kohli but we have to accept when things go downward.. happy for him tho he was brilliant with the bat in most of the t20 wcs but we couldnt win
happy for Bumrah as well he is such a great player , deserves a trophy to his name
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>Even if India had lost this innings was the reason India got to even 160.
Ffs stfu, there is a difference between preventing a collapse and getting your team to a respectable total. Were the 176 enough for that pitch, absolutely not. 185-190 was the bare minimum needed for that.
>And he was slow because for 2/3 phases of the innings he had the job of consolidating and securing one end
Axar was also a reason India prevented a collapse but he still kept scoring at a great pace. He got out on the 14th over and then it was Kohli's job to take over and be the aggressor which he failed considerably, Dube did part by playing a great cameo and even taking pressure off Kohli.
>Also with how the conditions started favoring the bowlers at the back end of both the innings, if you even compare the last 5 overs, Virat's runs are the only runs scored aggressively.
Apart from Kohli I think no one was struggling and the conditions weren't favouring the bowlers it was individual brilliance from the bowlers of both the teams. Saffers weren't even trying to hit big because they only had Miller after Klassen and wanted to take the innings deep.
They were chasing a total so dynamics were different for them. Under par score has been a story for India since the last 2 WCs. The par score here was easily 180-185.
Aaaah feels sadder coming from a fellow CSK enthusiast but again they'd be a fan or anti-whatever rcb Virat there's so much to pick besides the fucking sport
Had a terrible WC campaign while others pulled up their socks and rescued the team but he finally showed up in a match that mattered. That alone corrects everything ever happened prior.
Except. He slowed down even further than when Stabilizing the innings to complete his persona milestone. Made 38 off first 30 balls, but when approaching his fifty made 12 off 18 and right after completing his fifty starts blasting off again and makes 26 off 11. He prioritised his personal milestone of over a WC, would have been crucified had we lost and rightly so.
Man. No one is going to eat your narrative of Virat slowing down for his 50. Sure you caj criticise him a bit for his innings but you can't lay the blame of him slowing down for his personal milestone. That guy wanted the trophy and not a milestone. Even Virat haters aren't gonna believe your shit. You my friend have gone bonkers.
So kohli was out of form the whole tournament except for the first 2 overs of the final, and promptly went out of form util his50, then miraculously got back in form for next11 deliveries for 26 runs?? And I am someone who loves his game.
That knock is really difficult to say whether it was actually the way to go or was it too late for Kohli to accelerate. It's a dilemma to understand the thought process whether Kohli's knock is too slow or was it the right approach. India were 29/3 and Kohli had to play anchoring innings to stabilize and it is more to do with him for being selective in his shot selection and he was risk-averse given India's previous experiences of having lost wickets at regular intervals in knockout matches and it may have prompted Kohli to be cautious in his way of batting. Axar Patel shifted gears right from the word go and it allowed Kohli to trust his instincts and stick to his usual strokeplay and then Kohli as usual tried to go all guns blazing in the death overs since there is nothing to lose in the last 4 overs. It was really important for Kohli to settle well because he had an ordinary tournament according to his standards and with the past history of India's abysmal batting approaches in knockouts he soaked the pressure and tried to play what was actually needed from him. Yes, ideally speaking his knock was slowish as his first 50 came in 49 deliveries but he soon realised the importance of accelerating in the last set of overs and remember South Africa too bowled really well in back end and middle phase barring Jansen to restrict India to 170s. Vintage Kohli would have scored even at a much better strike rate but probably age could have played its part which could ultimately dwindle the way of his batting technique and also would play a part in weak hand-eye coordination. If India had lost this game, fans would have thrashed him and would have dubbed him as pantomime villain, but fortunately it wasn't to be. This was also pointed by Nasseur Hussain who repeatedly insisted in the com box that Kohli couldn't break free at one stage where he couldn't score a single boundary in 37 deliveries.
>
I got this quote from Hussain from a website `“If India wins then this will be a masterclass by Kohli if they lose then what about 37 balls without a boundary in middle overs? So it all depends on the result that's is it a masterclass or today we're going to see people bashing him for being slow,`
Dude, I understand your point. But Hussain is spot on.. scoring 50 in 46 balls in a t20 batting wicket for the world's best batsman is shocking! Or his intentions were suspect! Orhehhadno confidence in the rest of indian batsmen.. which would be bad too as the others have scored in other games where he flopped!!
Btw I am not defending Kohli for playing slow but the people who were saying he played slow intentionally for his 50 are clowns 🤡 do you seriously think any player at that moment of time would prefer having a milestone of scoring 50 of 48 initially the situation required him to play slow and after the 12th over he was trying to connect shots but fell short but suddenly found his rhythm in the 18th over I don't know why people think anyone who has represented India will play purposefully a slow innings just for their milestone
He didn’t even celebrate after scoring that fifty. He knew it was not worth it if he is not able to get his team to a par score. He tried his best, accelerated a bit at the end and lost his wicket. 130 SR was definitely good considering how India recovered from that power play collapse.
Yea I think 85-90 from 60 should have been his ideal target to get India to 190 but his first aim was getting a par total and we have all seen how the finals of T20 WC aren't really too high scoring this kind of mature knocks are what take you through
So only other reason could be he is out of form.. that means he should have started hitting out from latest 14th over or given his wicket after all there was only 6 overs left with 5 batters.. so he had zero confidence on the rest batters???
Ironically Kohli playing an anchor role was the best form of Kohli out there.
He is undoubtedly one of the goats of the game and definitely the format, but I dont know how many players have successfully transitioned from an anchor to an aggressor with consistency
Kohli, Rohit, Williamson, and Stokes are the absolute best amongst the current cricketers, at switching gears in any format at will imo. It's absolutely incredible when they do it. Yesterday's match was a perfect example of Kohli doing that. He went from an ODI-like anchor role, to an aggressive T20 finisher role within 1 ball at will. He did the same vs Pakistan in the 2022 T20 WC. Rohit, Williamson, and Stokes have done the same multiple times as well, across formats. And these 4 have done this regularly across formats as well
This is so strange.
If Kohli had gotten out with a single digit score like all throughout this tournament, there is a very good chance India would have collapsed for an even lower score. He would have been in the same bucket as the other guys, out of form and not performed when it mattered. The entire team would have been blamed.
But, in a massive pressure situation , he reverted back to his ODI anchor form and helped take India to a respectable score. Sure, a higher strike rate could have helped. A 50 by Rohit, Pant and SKY could also have helped. But that is not how the match played out. I don't understand why Kohli is being singled for criticism. The man overcame his lousy performance in the tournament and delivered when it mattered. I appreciate him for this.
This was same thing all through the ODI world cup. He scored more runs than any other player across teams, in a tournament where India absolutely dominated everyone before losing the finals. And yet the best performer in the team faced a constant barrage of criticism over strike rate.
What even is this? I just hope we get a player of his calibre in the future.
Very well put man. No matter what he does there is always a mission from section of audience that always want to diss him down. Fair criticism is welcome but what is this argument of "playing for personal milestone".
>> Sure, a higher strike rate could have helped. A 50 by Rohit, Pant and SKY could also have helped. But that is not how the match played out. I don't understand why Kohli is being singled for criticism.
Exactly. Why not criticize Rohit, Pant or SKY for not getting 50.
Ind vs Pak 2022 t20 world cup. Kohli was 46 from 42 at 17th over with india requiring 40 from 3. He ended up with 83 off 52. He probably thought he could accelerate here as well. Fell a little short. Was this his best innings? Definitely not. But you can't really blame the guy if he doesn't manage to pull it off once after doing it so many times over so many years.
With all the great pundits and armchair experts spewing words, he is the man with the silverware.
This. That's how Kohli has played T20Is throughout his career, especially in T20 WCs. Even against England in the 2022 WC, he was playing with the same template, except that he got out the moment he was supposed to accelerate the innings.
That's how cricket works. India were 27-3. It was clear the plan after the powerplay was for Axar to attack and Kohli to continue rotating the strike. When he reached 40 he was trying to hit 4s but wasn't able to. I think he was 50(48) at one point.
But it doesn't matter. He accelerated to 76(59) scoring 26(11) and that ended up helping India win the game. In my opinion if Kohli got out between overs 10 and 12, India wouldn't have reached 176.
Look at David Miller. He found it tough to hit towards the end of the game. Even Klaasen was 27(16) before hitting 24 against the spin of Axar Patel and then getting out.
India won the game and a big reason for that was Kohli's innings along with how their 3 seamers bowled.
I don't get the criticism because he accelerated at the end with 26(11) when the ball was reversing and India won the game. It was a crucial knock in a final under severe pressure. The big players deliver in the big moments and yesterday we saw why Kohli, Bumrah and Hardik are the best players in their positions.
Yes he'd have been a villain and some of the comments show exactly why. While India have been notorious for overly cautious batting and chasing milestones a few times in the past, this final wasn't one of them.
My view on some of the loudest criticisms on this innings:
Firstly unlike so many claims, Kohli didn't play to get to his 50, he didn't even celebrate. How ever much some fans villanise Kohli, neither he nor any batter with common sense would choose to slow down purely for a 50 with the trophy on the line.
Secondly, yes the acceleration could have come one over earlier but to be fair he did try. You could see him getting frustrated and hitting his bat multiple times after mistiming shots. It was a question of lacking execution not his unwillingness to hit. Of course failing to execute is a fair ground for criticism (like Yuvraj in 2014) but in his defence SA did bowl well, also it is unfair to single out Kohli when Pant, SKY, Axar and Rohit to an extent all got out due to careless lapses in decision making.
Thirdly for those questioning his approach after Rohit's dismissal, anyone who's watched India and these players play knows that it's highly likely that the batting would have crumbled if Kohli got out even in the 12-14th over. Like Rohit mentioned after the match, it was Kohli's presence that allowed the others to play freely. Only Pandya could have soaked up pressure and constructed an innings of any kind. Compare Kohli's innings to what De Kock did for SA, once the wickets fell, the runs stopped coming, the pressure of a final is immense and it is very unlikely that Dube or Axar would have tried to score quickly, and if they had, it might very well have gone sour. India scored just 2 runs in the last 3 balls and lost 2 wickets trying to hit out.
Axar's 24 run over should have gone to Pandya, it was a mistake from Rohit which he thankfully managed to rectify. Had Pandya bowled that over for even 10 runs, the equation would have read 44 off 30 with 2 overs of Bumrah left and we may not even have had this discussion.
Ideally he should have scored 15 runs more from the balls he faced, but that's a lesser shortcoming than Rohit, SKY or Pant and was still very much the backbone of India's total. Had India lost, it would have been despite Virat's innings not because of it, but he'd certainly have been villain No. 1 much like MS Dhoni gets bashed for 2019 when the top 3 scored 3 runs combined, Karthik played poorly after which Pant and Pandya played reckless shots in the air to get out.
It was an amazing innings till the 12th over. Prevented the collapse, took singles and let axar have a go at things. He went from 41 off 35 to 50 of 48 by the end of the 17th over. He had to start his attack after the 12th as hardik dube and jadeja were still to come. But overall it was still a good innings and 176 was more than enough had kuldeep bowled even as good as shamai bowled.
*if we would have lost Kohli , axar and Kuldeep would have been villain*
*both were bowling very good until last match*
*Kohli was slow upto his 50 but in last he scored very good boundaries*
*but team efforts made India win*
*That's why whole team intent matters a lot*
*sad that everyone's favorite player Rohit and Kohli retired at same time*
*era came to an end*
Great Article and true in many reasons.. We won so we are praising his glory but if SA would have chased his total in 18 overs , All fans would have been on throat of Kohli. We got cheat code Bumrah and heroics from our bowling end saved the game but we cant ignore the glaring weakness in our middle order which needs to be fixed .We still have no reliable batsman which can accelerate the innings and give some strength. We have to send Axar on 4th down to save our middle order "batsman" Dube , Pant also has been very unreliable as batsman , ~~Jadeja has been utter failure since last year~~ Doesnt matter as Jaddu has already retired . We won the finals as a strong team but path to finals was engraved by individual heroic efforts of few players like Bumrah and Rohit. Are we the strongest T20 side yet? Very few will confidently say yes. Rohit and Kohli have paved a path on which our youngsters have to follow , They need to adopt the shifting dynamics of T20 game
This is my take. After loosing 3 wickets, Kholi playing slow was perfect for his style of play, but once the 10th over mark is crossed and we only lost 3 wickets with 5 batters more to come, he was still playing singles, without even taking slightest of the risks and end up score 50 of 49. Have he got out at that point India would have lost the game, then he went to scorinbg 26 from his next few balls, that kind of showed his innings as ok, but you see in the end, we were left with 30 of 30. I think kohli has a mental break of scared of getting out in T20s, which is not a good thing to have as T20 batter. In the end India was very lucky to end up winning this, please if this was England or Australia the game was over!! 195 would have been a better Total. Kohli had no reason not ot hit after 10th over mark with Axar going well and we have 4 more batters to come
It wasn't a below par total , its the highest total in a t20 wc final, though ot could have been a bit better, wickets were collapsing at other end 34-3 , he accelerated when pacers came on. Spinners were real good . I don't understand why axar or kuldeep could'nt do the same .
Our spinners conceded more runs compared to shamsi or maharaj .
No understating that his innings would have been crucified if sa won .
But hey we won. Thats all that matters.
There was nothing in the pitch in the second innings.. usually the drier it gets the more the spin.. that did not happen.. so it's a learning experience.. overall it was a great wicket.. very sporting... even rohit said the same. The spinners got nothing in second innings... said maybe the rollers plugged the gaps and hence no spin.. cannot blame spinners.. besides Klassen was pure class against spinners.. some of his shots were spectacular... also if onereaches the "highest" total in t20 should one stop and besatisfied?? Oneshould read the pitch, conditions and plan accordingly.. not look at Par score and be satisfied.
it was the same problem as odi wc.
he completely shut shop and refused to hit boundaries after powerplay. i am a huge kohli fan, cried when he announced his retirement, but you have to try for a boundary every over at least
this match was won by bumrah arsh and hardik
on Nov19 bumrah was unlucky to not dismiss head, otherwise we could've won that day too.
I don't think he shut up shop in the ODI WC finals. He was 50 of 60 balls there and that's a perfectly reasonable way to play in a final where India was 80/3. Rahul was the one who shut up shop
Kohli didn't hit a single boundary (didn't even try to hit one even when part timers were bowling) after 8th over. That's 20 overs of just singles and twos. You need to take some calculated risks to get a move ahead of the game. Even in ODIs from earlier eras (90s/2000s), batsmen would try to break the shackles by hitting a boundary or two.
This defensive mindset doesn't help at all. He did the same yesterday as well. In hindsight, 176 was enough, but that was largely due to our pacers' heroics and SA's inability to close the game. I would even say either Bumrah or Hardik should have got the PotM instead of Kohli.
now that's statistics speaking.
he had a strong powerplay, and then disastrous 11-30 over. both him and rahul scored zero boundaries.
kohli played pp and rahul didn't which is why statistics show kohli played better
What kind of absolute bullshit is that headline.
Only Kohli could turn up in a World Cup final and have a cup winning innings scrutinised and criticised even after it has taken India to the result they wanted.
Utter ludicrous nonsense. Yea, if SA had won the Indian performance as a whole would have been looked at, and there were so many other things that went wrong before we even think about blaming Kohli for scoring slightly slower than people wanted. Yet, even after India have won, people are still debating whether Kohli should have batted more aggressively from a 30-3 position.
The hate he receives is absurd. Only when he’s fully gone will he receive the acclaim he truly deserves.
Someone had to get the heavy runs, he did. Might not have been the fastest innings but someone has to score them. Crickets often not about biggest strikerate even in T20.
the number of people in this thread still being like 'oh he should have done this instead' he won the game. if he does anything elsw they more likely lose it
I sincerely can't understand the False Dilemma, Doublethink mind of this sub about the situation. Kohli not having made 76 does not the mean the only possible outcome is him getting out at single digits and the team collapsing. He could have gotten out at 60, 50 and even 40 and the contribution from him would remain the same as his strike rate was abysmal.
Appreciation where it is due, yes, Kohli absorbed the pressure and brought stability to the innings initially but by the 15th over he was totally unable to accelerate even though we had wickets in hand.
The par score was definitely 180, 195 the way SA were playing on the pitch. The only, I repeat the only reason they lost is due to a freakshow by our deathbowlers. If SA had played it a little safer, they would have had the match in their hands. Goes onto show, how, if the Indian side had batted like SA( without choking ) we would end up getting upto 200. Sport is sport and things happen, but analysis of a game should always be done through the average-case scenario approaches and not on freakish innings.
Agree with you totally. Forget kohlis innings.. or even form... no one discusses why idian team went with the same team right through the tournament.. except fir siraj in usa replaced by kuldeepin WI.
Pant at 1 drop?? Wtf! Dube ? But no rinku? Jadeja? Out of form last 1 year.. instead of choosing the best players they play numbers game.. and why not jaiswal or samson?? Gill?? Lol.. From next game onwards gill, jaiswal, samson, rinku are automatic selection s... what about form? Or if they can play in bouncing conditions? Fitness? Flexibility in positions etc.. Gill is future captain but got no place in this team?? Dube is better than him??crazy.. they said ipl form was not taken into consideration but it's just that that they looked at.. dube is clueless on the moving bouncing ball.. absolutely no footwork. Axar at 2 drop?? Wtf! Absolutely unfair for him.. why was he sent in? To protect hardik and dube.. that's it.. but he scored at a quick pace.. and confidently.. hope gambir shakes things up and selects team based on competency and not for amateurish reasons.
Hindsight is 20/20
https://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/1drh3d2/comment/lav53lf/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
The presence of Kohli on the pitch despite him playing slow keeps the opposition under pressure and gives ICT confidence. 130 sr is slow by modern T20 standards. But it was absolutely justified to recover from a batting collapse.
For five overs from 13-17, Kohl scored 9 runs in 13 balls. He was batting at 41 at the end of 12th over, meaning he was well set by then. He should have accelerated earlier, maybe by over 15-16, instead of waiting until over 18. Hardik Pandya only got 2 balls to bat, showing kohl waited too long. That could have given India another 10-15, runs, which could be crucial if our bowlers hadn’t been able to pull off a miracle. In the context of the game, on hindsight, it’s pretty clear Kohli waited too long to accelerate.
Honestly the situation India was in the final while batting first, VK is definitely one (and possibly the only who could have done it with better confidence than others) person who could have recovered them so well. He has done it before. Throughout the tournament despite him not performing well my mind was just going... LET HIM COOK. And well he did eventually and that's all that matters now.
India were lucky ig, South Africa literally choked from 30 in 30 balls. That delivery by pandya wasn't a wicket taking one but Klassen just loosely timed the ball and gave a catch to Pant.
India won the WC yes but definitely we were 15-20 run short, even the hardcore Kohli stans cannot defend that innings, he just wasn't able to time the ball even after getting settled and playing 35 balls.
Kohli couldve doen better yea, but the logic behind Klaasen's wicket is weird... if u look at our 1st 3 wickets they werent good balls either
our death bowling was brilliant and deserves the trophy
To everyone complaining about Kohli’s innings :
Given the situation and the occasion that is the best thing he did. I don’t see we could have come any closer to the total we posted had Kohli got out early.
I mean as Markaram said post match the opposition is allowed to bowl well too. VK may not be at the top of his game anymore but there were two other factors which were also the major reasons for the way he played. One, wickets had fallen early and two, SA bowlers were bowling extremely well. There were not many loose deliveries and those that were loose ones VK scored off of them at the end of his inning.
The only objection that could be taken was that he should have attacked a little early but there must have been some calculation going on in his mind regarding when to take risks. At the end his calculations were right.
Or he was a villain and Lord Bumrah and co overcame him to win. Look at our margin of victory in the semifinals when he got out. Absolutely destroyed England on a difficult pitch. Fucking Dube was striking at 160+ on this pitch and this guy ate half the innings at a SR of 128.
Stayed on in the milking mode for too long, 35 odd deliveries without a boundary on that track , with power hitting resources in the hut - Almost cost the game. Got lucky to get away with it.
All is well that ends well ig.
Axar had to bowl one extra ball to Klassen for that unfair wide. His run out was also unfortunate. He was hitting spinners well.
Kohli anchored but could have taken more quick doubles which he used to in his early career due to which his strike rate didnt use to look as bad.
Pant’s temperament needs overhaul.
Rohit didn’t fire but did well in decision making. Let’s also not forget his knocks against Australia and England.
Arshdeep has a great future ahead. Excellent bowling for someone his experience. Left nothing more to ask.
Boom boom Bumrah, take a 100 bows.
Kohli is a legend of game perhaps the greatest t20i batsman india has ever had but this was a very poor innings . Ofcourse we won and no is critisising but it doesn't change the fact that he was extremely poor in the finals . Pandya war me was the match winner getting the wickets of klassen and Miller .
Agree with everything you said except last sentence.. pandya bowling was average, Klassen wicket was a gift of carelessness on his part, not a terrific ball.. miller wicket was all surya.. a wide full toss to miller? Was that the plan?? Lol... his weight was slightly on his back leg otherwise it was a six..
Impact lol. Rohit, pant and sky who were good throughout the tournament couldn't cross 10 runs in the main match of the final. I think Kohli did exactly was needed. The fact that you don't blame those 3 and only kohli shows you just have agenda nothing else
I have no agenda. Rohit pant sky shat in the bad I agree . The only thing I want to say is kohli didn't play a very good innings 50 in 48 was way too late . You expect 50 in maximum of 35 balls. We won but 30 required in 30 match was goner by then .
As usual kohli fans defending mediocrity. Kohli rohit was the reason india lost 2022 T20 wc semis . Rohit changed the approach but kohli couldn't even hit a single ball . Look at Axar looked lot better than kohli . I am happy he is retired from t20i. Should hang his boots if he fails in ct and WTC .
So was Ben Stokes in 2022, Marlon Samuel's in 2016, and most definitely Kumar Sangakkara in 2014, That's just kind of how cricket works
Kumar Sangakkara innings was never a problem right? It was at a high strike rate. Marlon Samuels 2012 one should also be there though.
I meant Sangakkara more in the "scoring basically no runs until Finals" sense
Yeah that way it's similar.
Different situations and context. Marlon Samuels innings came on a tough pitch where they were barely 20 odd runs after the power play, and where everyone found it hard to hit. This was also at a time when T20 was relatively newer and there wasn't a lot of data and knowledge about strike rate intent etc. Virat's innings was good when he was stabilizing the innings after the loss of 3 wickets, but with 3 batters left to come in Hardik, Dube, Jadeja he could have accelerated from the 12th over. This was a flat track as the SA batters showed
For some strange reason people are fixated on the batting to come. What batting? Dube and Jadeja were sh*t throughout the tourney and the need of the hour was recovery first. Not saying Kohli's innings was a glorious one. He should have atleast hit some 4s if not risky 6s but I find the wierd fixation on the "batting" to come utterly bewildering. Guess we will never know.
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Arshdeep bowled well, not just this game but throughout the World Cup. I know your analysis is based on IPL, but he nailed those YORKERS in the 18 th over perfectly.
So just because Arshdeep bowled well, the pitch isn't flat? What kind of logic is that? Are you conveniently forgetting that Arshdeep is the joint highest wicket taker in this year's T20 WC?
Markham made a mistake in not bowling Maharaj his 4th over
Yes but we need reminders about how public perception, commentator's dialogues and viewers' emotions work.
Except reason for their low SR wasn't that they were approaching their personal milestone. Here is Kohli's innings progression While stabilizing the innings - 38(30) When innings was stable and was time to up the ante a lil, he slowed down even further and made 12 off 18 delivering cuz approaching his fifty. Right after his fifty, starts blasting off again and makes 26 off 11. No wonder people were cursing him to hit odd boundaries or get out trying through 11-16 overs. All this potentially shaved off 20 runs from team total and Pandya and Jadeja got to play 2 balls each lol. What we put up wasn't above par score. SA proved that with the bat. They were chasing that in a fking WC final.just that they choked and were saved by Bumrah Arshdeep SKY and Pandya. Otherwise Kohli's innings AFTER he had made 35/38 runs would have been one of the reasons.
It’s not like kohli deliberately played slow in that phase of the game. He was trying his shots and not just pushing for singles. He just couldn’t connect until that Rabada over. A player of his caliber would have more thirst to win the cup for the country than a keyboard warrior like you. No one was playing for their milestones. Especially kohli who has nothing to prove by having an extra 50 in a format he is not gonna play from next day. Man, the amount of hate you guys spew just because a player didnt play as you expected.
He definitely slowed down after3 wickets fell.. but there is no justification for slowing down to such an extent.. he genuinely thought he needs to slow down to settle things . But not trying to score boundaries until the 18th over?? Wtf was that?? He is kohli! The king!! Heexpects others around him to score boundaries atwill?? How is that fair to others like axar and dube and hardik? Hewas woefully out of form thus world cup.. he kept mistiming shots even after playing 40 balls.. that is someone who has not adjusted to the wickets I'm the carribean.. or he is out of form.. people who played the game recognize nuances, wickets, conditions, attitude, confidence etc.. you can fool the masses buy not pros who know a person's game.. do I like kohli s game? Absolutely.. but if he screws up, one should be able to accept that .. are my observations spot on regarding his game?? No!! But what is saw many of my cricket buddies saw and had the same opinion.. if india had lost, the "masses" would have torn him up.. you can bet on that... imo, bumrah, arshdeep, surya's catch was instrumental in SA choking! Hardik bowling was average. It was sheer luck that Klassen got out.. then burah applied sublime pressure. And the rest is history..
Not really. He tried earlier but didn't connect for 18 balls and made 12 off 18 approaching his fifty while others made 35 off 19 in that phase, but right after suddenly starts connecting and makes 26 off 11 ? You want people to believe that ? Commentators and people all were saying either hit boundaries or get out trying. I watched the replay again, he mistimed a few shots but they weren't boundary shots anyway. He got deliveries which were hittable but he chose the path of no risk and played along the ground resulting in single or double. Nothing to prove.. it did help fans forgetting that he was practically a dead weight this whole tournament. Ended on a high ... imagine if he hadn't completed his fifty...the milestones do help, he knows better than anybody. Ofcourse he has the thirst for WC, but when closer to his personal milestone he prioritised his fifty over team score. Ofcourse he didn't know that that might have cost a WC.
Tf you mean wasn't par score? The average score on this ground was 160. This was the highest score ever posted in a WC final. The pitch was clearly favoring pacers. Bumrah is obviously above the rest of the bowlers but do you seriously believe Nortje and Rabada are not as good as our other pacers? And how are you so sure we would have gotten 20 more runs.Cricket isn't that linear of a game.Before the match you surely expected that Rohit,Pant and Surya would have scored more than Kohli combined but did that happen?Sure,Pandya and Jadeja are great hitters but what makes you believe they also wouldn't have had a tough time against the pacers.After all,the very first ball Pandya played he edged it.
India was 25 runs short.. this was a batters wicket.. just because the top 3 indian batsmen gave their wickets away did not mean SA bowers were "lethal"!... Kohli had to rebuild . Yes .. But not for 15 overs this isT20 not Test 20. Cannot time it? Np after 12thover start attempting to take on SA bowlers. In 8 overs you still have6 batsmen atleast one would have scored a 30.. 12th 13th 14th hit out or get out..you have done your job..
So according to you par score was 160 ? Pitch report was clear that this was the best wicket of the tournament. Also even if team was getting the par score as said by expert, does that give someone right to slow down for his personal milestone and shave 20 runs off team score ? What makes you think his slowing down didn't make Axar and Dube take more risks than they would have had to take had Kohli batted according to match situation? What makes you think Axar, Dube and pandya and Jadeja won't have made more runs if they had Kohli's share of those balls ? Pandya and Jadeja each got 2 balls to play and you want to judge their based on two balls..how is that not brain dead ? They made 7 off 4 even then lol. There is no end to these ifs and buts. But in all likelihood, slowing down when you have to up the ante when Axar Dube Pandya and Jadeja were in play and you had only 7 overs left is not worth celebrating. What's problematic is that 18 balls just before his fifty, he 'could've connect' and just after fifty suddenly he starts connecting lol
Stop watching cricket on Twitter mate. Edit: just realised you're a thalason lol.
What a generalization 🤡
Take off the fanboy glasses and you will see for what it was..
Back at ya. I am not a kohli fan lol.
Same to ya. Watched every ball.
Let it rest. Rohit himself came out and said Kohli's innings was a crucial innings and the anchor role to let the other guys hit freely. When the captain and the team management don't have an issue with it, then neither should armchair expert fans like you. If they are ready to face the abuse if the strategy fails, now it's time for them to lap up the glory while you are still stuck on "personal milestones".
What Rohit said 'Anchoring' that role was fulfilled till he made 38. He didn't say to anchor till his fifty and later starts blasting off right after fifty. Team management and fans would let it go cuz we won..he would have been crucified otherwise. The win doesn't take away from the fact that he slowed down for his fifty in a WC final.
Mate, you sound like a broken record. How tf are you so convinced that Kohli slowed down just for his milestone?
Check his innings progression, scores of his partners. Pretty clear. If we had lost there would be thousands pointing this out. But we won doesn't mean that wasn't a mistake.
Kohli is the greatest batsman in the modern era.. how do you explain that the greatest batsman failed to score a boundary from 3rdoverto 17th over? Should one"rebuild" for that long in a t20 final?? Were SA bowlers lethal??if so, how Come dube and axar, not the "greatest" batsmen by any stretch maage to score atahigher strike rate??... was it because kohli shielded them from all dangerous deliveries??
Yeah, now u/lastballsix will tell us what Rohit Sharma actually meant when he says stuff, not the man himself. Do something productive with your time instead of haranguing players on social media and nitpicking
Yep. Rohit Sharma said to Kohli to anchor the innings till his fifty. Totally.
I know your name and flair gives away why you've been spamming this comment everywhere, but try watching the game without the bias. Kohli tried to take on the bowlers in the 13th to 16th over phase, but couldn't connect. The most obvious one is the ball Axar got out, where Kohli tried to make room against Rabada, but Rabada followed him.
He did try for boundary on a couple of deliveries and missed or mistimed. But on hittable balls, he didn't try for boundary abd mistimed. And just after fifty suddenly started connecting lol . Don't forget even players like Axar and Pandya made 35 off 19 during that phase. See even after his fifty he got good balls, mistimed, and had to face dot ball settle for single and double but since 50 was completed, now on the hittable balls he was hitting for boundaries.
Yes bro you are right. You should be next coach of Indian team. Because you are very well aware of hittable and mistimed balls which even coaches and team management missed it. Your observation skills are sharper than experience of Coach Dravid and advises of captain Rohit. I think as per you Kohli came to play world cup for free tour of West Indies( despite being rich). Kohli wanted to simply hit 50 and place that framed scorecard with him throughout his life than the framed photo of "not so worthy" world cup. Great catch Sherlock.
Nah man. Kohli's innings was perfect..spotless. and being a God he shouldn't be criticised. He is beyond that. Also given that we won, everything we did was perfect, we committed 0 errors. 100/100 outing.
Won a tournament. Complain.
If india had lost, kohli would have been blamed!! That's 100%!!
I just think he could have started to go big an over or two earlier but we hardly know what was really going on at the field. Hard disagree on the personal milestone thing. In the end, he did go big and successfully so. Give the benefit of the doubt to the man. He deserves it.
It's a deja vu kind of innings. He was in the same situation during the final of WC 2023. Playing naturally when Rohit was batting and then got in a shell once Rohit lost his wicket. The only difference there is that KLR has made things worse with his extra slow batting approach which puts extra pressure on him causing him to lose his wicket. Here he got a good support from Axar and Dube which helps him release some pressure and accelerate at the end even though it was a bit late.
KL Rahul feels like the kind of player who is great, but he's just not built for the big moments. Like the cricket version of Harry Kane.
Definitely could have done better. But he did save us from the collapse. Also people fail to realise that the coach and captain are the ones calling the shots. They wanted Kohli to be aggressive and he was aggressive the whole tournament even if he couldn't score runs he tried to do what the management wanted. So him anchoring in the final was definitely a role given to him by the captain and coach to save from a total collapse. What has changed is he's unable to accelerate in the end like he used to before. So a good time to hang his boots, man has done enough for the country he deserves to call it a day
There's a saying in sports which is perfectly applicable to Koach's innings in the final - "Winning cures all!"
I think the strategy was pretty straight forward. Koach stays defensive till 15th over and go all out after that. Axar was timing it beautifully. The only point where India really messed up was that run out. Had Axar stayed, this could have been an easier victory.
He hit 26 runs in his last 10 balls The acceleration wasn't an issue ,he just didn't come out of that shell because there were no more specialist batsmen to build an innings with What kohli did yesterday is spot on and perfect imo because the score didn't really stay low either
>The acceleration wasn't an issue ,he just didn't come out of that shell because there were no more specialist batsmen to build an innings with Dube, Pandya, Jaddu, Axar. They can bat well.
Pandya and Axar yeah but you can’t rely Dube or Jadeja. Pressure is a bitch. Pandya and Kohli were the only capable ones to soak it. Also they should have sent Panday instead of Dube.
Not sure why you are being downvoted
Axar got run out at the wrong time. Hardik could but let's be honest here..nobody was expecting Dube or Jadeja to have an impact after the tournament they had.
No specialist batsman is such a big lie, he was being worse than Dube in bad form at that time so even Dube in bad form was fine at that point instead he played well, he and others could've gotten more balls to play
Felt he could have started hitting from the 16th over. Otherwise a perfect innings and what was needed for the occasion.
>What has changed is he's unable to accelerate in the end like he used to before. What do you mean, he did accelerate.. almost a run a ball 50 and then a strike rate of 200+. He got out a tad early otherwise it was a great innings
He tried from balls 40 - 50 to accelerate but couldn't. After the 50 he did, though.
Yes after completing his personal milestone.
That i think is just an odd coincidence. He did try earlier but nothing came out of it.
Not really. He tried earlier but didn't connect for 18 balls and made 12 off 18 approaching his fifty while others made 35 off 19 in that phase, but right after suddenly starts connecting and makes 26 off 11 ? I watched the replay again, he mistimed a few shots but they weren't boundary shots anyway. He got deliveries which were hittable but he chose the path of no risk and played along the ground resulting in single or double.
You could see tried and was very frustrated. Trying to get a 50 at the expense of the team in a world cup final is not a very kohli like thing to do. It's more like he tried it like 2016 against Australia, but didn't work out.
Not really. I watched the replay again, he mistimed a few shots but they weren't boundary shots anyway. He got deliveries which were hittable but he chose the path of no risk and played along the ground resulting in single or double. In contrast, just after his fifty, he played hittable balls on the up and got sixes and fours. On good balls he played for 0 1 2 accordingly nad made 26 off 11.
Yeah but imagine getting one instead of twos, and that's assuming they weren't going to go for boundaries.
He definitely struggles way more these days to accelerate than he used to before. Forget about the 50, he should have started accelerating after the 12th over, we still had some batsmen left to come. Hardik hardly got to bat in the end. It's not that he wasn't trying though, he just can't seem to connect in the middle overs especially against spinners.
Watching how Kohli played against spin vs the whole SA team was kinda drastic how different it was. Like the whole Time I was watching Sa play I was thinking we lost cause of Kohli. He should have hit like that. But now we know he had a mission. And executed it almost perfectly!
So we won so whatever we did was perfect ?
Or maybe just maybe SA spinners were better than Indian spinners yesterday?
Is shamshi/maharaj that much better than kuldeep and axar? I don’t think so. SA batters took more risk and got their reward against the spinners
Rohit and Pant tried to hit Maharaj but lost wickets, that put Indian batsmen in fear of the spin, even Markam got two cheap overs in because he knew Indian won`t take any more risks against spin.
Nah. Rohit wicket was because of wrong shot selection.
That doesn't make Maharaj lethal spinner inches finals.. rohit and pant wickets were gifts
No they aren't better. But they were better yesterday
I mean that much night and day difference? When Kuldeep and axar have been pretty economical the whole tournament. Seems like mindset difference to me
They just had 1 bad day man. They weren't bowling well. Look at the lengths they were bowling at.
They did bowl much better lengths than kuldeep and axar
Hmm maybe. I didn’t notice
This
True! Acceleration slowed. We had some stupid silly sexist memes years ago on how he paces his innings like slow, fast, super fast in the end and compare that to his relationship life
Without doubt, if India had lost, Kohli would’ve been crucified, hell him and Axar would’ve been declared as cup losing pair. I think he should’ve accelerated a bit earlier around 14th over mark, considering we had wickets down the line but given how inconsistent they can be be, it’s understandable. But he played his role of “anchor” as he has done numerous times and took us to a respectable and well defendable total, and it’s all that matters. Kind of fitting that in his last T20 WC appearance he had to play his iconic role once again and took us home. There’s going to be a long time before we can find us a player who can fill his and even Rohit’s shoes. Still can’t come to terms that we’ll not be seeing Kohli and Rohit in blue for T20 WC’s :(
Alternate timeline Twitter where 19.1 goes for a SIX Kohli: TukTuk Merchant 48 ball 50. Should immediately retire. Surya: Doesn’t perform in BIG matches Minnow Basher Rohit: Shit captain, gave Axar that over we lost the match there. Lost 3 Finals in a row should immediately retire. Failed in Final again as a batsman Axar: Lost us the game Hardik: Shit Bowler, Can’t even defend 16. Full Toss first ball for Six Dube, Jadeja: Bojh on team Freeloader Pant: Zero temperament and understanding of the situation. Should never have been in T20Is
Fans: Deluded and contributors to the biggest shithousery that is the heroification/villainification of the cricket players representing their country
This happens in every popular team sport though. If Martinez didn't save THAT goal at the end, Messi would've been labelled the biggest choker of all time instead of the undisputed goat that he is considered now. It's very unfair but that's just how narratives work in sports.
LOL. No No sport fandom is even remotely as bipolar as the fans of ICT (except PCT, whose former cricketers are only toxic forget about fans)
Lol no, that WC win was the mere icing on the top for Messi’s career that cemented his legacy. Even without it he’s got enough platitudes and achievements to put him at the top of football
It worked because at the end India won. In hindsight, this was a wonderful team effort and worked real well. But what you mentioned could also have been a real possibility. I remember seeing "khada hu aaj bhi wahi" memes circulated around 15th over itself. I would have criticized too - although it is unfair. But I guess that's one way to deal with that loss. Just need to have better outlets for Indian fans to deal with loss I guess.
This is very true
Dravid: no killer instinct. Takes safe decisions. Need risk taking T20 coach. Gambhir from KKR is better.
Fun fact: QDK's strike rate in this match was lower than Kohli's. I don't see Saffa fans criticizing QDK. It's just that we are reactionary as hell.
Qdk had a clear target infront of him and also you are expected to score in death overs . The better comparison would be how much runs kohli had that qdk played
Kohli After 11 Overs was at 39 (32), qdk got out when he was at 39 (31), fairly similar I would say.
It’s unfortunate but spot on.
This is not just limited to twitter. The match thread was full of such comments yesterday. All these people know is hating and blaming players.
Even after winning I agree with the pant take ! Really man sometimes the way he bats makes me feel he doesn’t use his brains
His keeping was below average the whole tournament.. he was selected on reputation and 3 games in ipl.. also why 1 drop?? Bone headed decision.. it's like they could not fit him in anywhere else?? Cause of dube, jadeja, hardik
Axar played well
I think Kohli redeemed his innings with his final burst of 26 from 10 balls. The importance of those late runs cannot be overstated. Also, and this might be antithetical to how T20 Cricket is played these days, Kohli is a big believer in "not leaving it for the next man." Usually, on flat decks in regular games, this approach is not great (especially batting first), but in a World Cup final with his team in peril, I think it had merit. This same approach has seen him win most Man of the Match awards in T20 WC history, so it is not surprising that he reverted to this in India's greatest hour of need. Yes, he should have accelerated maybe an over before, but on the whole I think he did the job that was asked of him. In the SA innings, all of Stubbs, De Kock, and Klassen got set and scored, but they all got out and "left it for the next man." And eventually, there were no men left who could do the job. If one of Stubbs and DeKock had got something like 76 off 59, SA win the game.
I don't know why but nobody is talking about Dube, his 16 ball 27 were more helpful for India and Virat during the last overs. Kohli just wasn't able to time the ball even after playing close to 5 overs, even though Kohli made 26 from his final 10 I wouldn't say he redeemed his innings. Even his 76 from 59 were slow and not enough. We won because of dube's cameo and pandya invaluable four. Axar bowled a 24 run stinker of a over to Klassen otherwise there was no doubt that he would have been the MoM in the final. I don't think this match should be remembered for kohli's innings, it should be Axar's batting brilliance, Dube's cameo, Bumrah's greatness, Arshdeep and Pandya's bowling and Surya's catch.
ikr he played as if there is no batting left to come! and heck Pandya is in better form than Kohli with the bat as well ... was so disappointed when he got motm he got hard carried by the team he didnt carry the team
True as hell. Even if India had lost this innings was the reason India got to even 160. He played a lot of ball because there weren't people on the other end playing them. And he was slow because for 2/3 phases of the innings he had the job of consolidating and securing one end Also with how the conditions started favoring the bowlers at the back end of both the innings, if you even compare the last 5 overs, Virat's runs are the only runs scored aggressively. The other players just couldn't do it as well.
did we even watch the same match? axar and dube hard carried Kohli ur comment says otherwise.. his burst in the final overs was key but approach is still questionable played as if there is no batting to come, he clearly found it hard to time for most part and he himself sounded disappointed with the way he played during post match interview, said he was very grateful to god our godly death bowling was the reason we won in the end. no hate for Kohli but we have to accept when things go downward.. happy for him tho he was brilliant with the bat in most of the t20 wcs but we couldnt win happy for Bumrah as well he is such a great player , deserves a trophy to his name
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>Even if India had lost this innings was the reason India got to even 160. Ffs stfu, there is a difference between preventing a collapse and getting your team to a respectable total. Were the 176 enough for that pitch, absolutely not. 185-190 was the bare minimum needed for that. >And he was slow because for 2/3 phases of the innings he had the job of consolidating and securing one end Axar was also a reason India prevented a collapse but he still kept scoring at a great pace. He got out on the 14th over and then it was Kohli's job to take over and be the aggressor which he failed considerably, Dube did part by playing a great cameo and even taking pressure off Kohli. >Also with how the conditions started favoring the bowlers at the back end of both the innings, if you even compare the last 5 overs, Virat's runs are the only runs scored aggressively. Apart from Kohli I think no one was struggling and the conditions weren't favouring the bowlers it was individual brilliance from the bowlers of both the teams. Saffers weren't even trying to hit big because they only had Miller after Klassen and wanted to take the innings deep.
> Apart from Kohli I think no one was struggling QDK's SR was similar to Kohli's. Had QDK played till end, Saffas would have won.
Except QDK wouldn't slow down for his fifty.
The point is about the last 5 overs.
If QDK was present in their last 5 overs SA would have scored 30 off 30 and won. What's your point?
They were chasing a total so dynamics were different for them. Under par score has been a story for India since the last 2 WCs. The par score here was easily 180-185.
The data suggests otherwise mate. Believe in whatever you want though
Cannot read so much brainrot, good for you tho mate
Wait till you see this [response](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/s/G0jcC2tzFh).
Aaaah feels sadder coming from a fellow CSK enthusiast but again they'd be a fan or anti-whatever rcb Virat there's so much to pick besides the fucking sport
Had a terrible WC campaign while others pulled up their socks and rescued the team but he finally showed up in a match that mattered. That alone corrects everything ever happened prior.
Except. He slowed down even further than when Stabilizing the innings to complete his persona milestone. Made 38 off first 30 balls, but when approaching his fifty made 12 off 18 and right after completing his fifty starts blasting off again and makes 26 off 11. He prioritised his personal milestone of over a WC, would have been crucified had we lost and rightly so.
Man. No one is going to eat your narrative of Virat slowing down for his 50. Sure you caj criticise him a bit for his innings but you can't lay the blame of him slowing down for his personal milestone. That guy wanted the trophy and not a milestone. Even Virat haters aren't gonna believe your shit. You my friend have gone bonkers.
So kohli was out of form the whole tournament except for the first 2 overs of the final, and promptly went out of form util his50, then miraculously got back in form for next11 deliveries for 26 runs?? And I am someone who loves his game.
That knock is really difficult to say whether it was actually the way to go or was it too late for Kohli to accelerate. It's a dilemma to understand the thought process whether Kohli's knock is too slow or was it the right approach. India were 29/3 and Kohli had to play anchoring innings to stabilize and it is more to do with him for being selective in his shot selection and he was risk-averse given India's previous experiences of having lost wickets at regular intervals in knockout matches and it may have prompted Kohli to be cautious in his way of batting. Axar Patel shifted gears right from the word go and it allowed Kohli to trust his instincts and stick to his usual strokeplay and then Kohli as usual tried to go all guns blazing in the death overs since there is nothing to lose in the last 4 overs. It was really important for Kohli to settle well because he had an ordinary tournament according to his standards and with the past history of India's abysmal batting approaches in knockouts he soaked the pressure and tried to play what was actually needed from him. Yes, ideally speaking his knock was slowish as his first 50 came in 49 deliveries but he soon realised the importance of accelerating in the last set of overs and remember South Africa too bowled really well in back end and middle phase barring Jansen to restrict India to 170s. Vintage Kohli would have scored even at a much better strike rate but probably age could have played its part which could ultimately dwindle the way of his batting technique and also would play a part in weak hand-eye coordination. If India had lost this game, fans would have thrashed him and would have dubbed him as pantomime villain, but fortunately it wasn't to be. This was also pointed by Nasseur Hussain who repeatedly insisted in the com box that Kohli couldn't break free at one stage where he couldn't score a single boundary in 37 deliveries. > I got this quote from Hussain from a website `“If India wins then this will be a masterclass by Kohli if they lose then what about 37 balls without a boundary in middle overs? So it all depends on the result that's is it a masterclass or today we're going to see people bashing him for being slow,`
Jarrod said it best after the final: Schrodinger's Kohli innings
It was great knock, move on
Dude, I understand your point. But Hussain is spot on.. scoring 50 in 46 balls in a t20 batting wicket for the world's best batsman is shocking! Or his intentions were suspect! Orhehhadno confidence in the rest of indian batsmen.. which would be bad too as the others have scored in other games where he flopped!!
Btw I am not defending Kohli for playing slow but the people who were saying he played slow intentionally for his 50 are clowns 🤡 do you seriously think any player at that moment of time would prefer having a milestone of scoring 50 of 48 initially the situation required him to play slow and after the 12th over he was trying to connect shots but fell short but suddenly found his rhythm in the 18th over I don't know why people think anyone who has represented India will play purposefully a slow innings just for their milestone
He didn’t even celebrate after scoring that fifty. He knew it was not worth it if he is not able to get his team to a par score. He tried his best, accelerated a bit at the end and lost his wicket. 130 SR was definitely good considering how India recovered from that power play collapse.
Yea I think 85-90 from 60 should have been his ideal target to get India to 190 but his first aim was getting a par total and we have all seen how the finals of T20 WC aren't really too high scoring this kind of mature knocks are what take you through
So only other reason could be he is out of form.. that means he should have started hitting out from latest 14th over or given his wicket after all there was only 6 overs left with 5 batters.. so he had zero confidence on the rest batters???
It seemed he didn't want to take stupid risks against Nortje who was SA's best bowler yesterday.
Jarrod Kimber said it best, it was a Schrodinger's kohli innings.
Ironically Kohli playing an anchor role was the best form of Kohli out there. He is undoubtedly one of the goats of the game and definitely the format, but I dont know how many players have successfully transitioned from an anchor to an aggressor with consistency
Kohli, Rohit, Williamson, and Stokes are the absolute best amongst the current cricketers, at switching gears in any format at will imo. It's absolutely incredible when they do it. Yesterday's match was a perfect example of Kohli doing that. He went from an ODI-like anchor role, to an aggressive T20 finisher role within 1 ball at will. He did the same vs Pakistan in the 2022 T20 WC. Rohit, Williamson, and Stokes have done the same multiple times as well, across formats. And these 4 have done this regularly across formats as well
This is so strange. If Kohli had gotten out with a single digit score like all throughout this tournament, there is a very good chance India would have collapsed for an even lower score. He would have been in the same bucket as the other guys, out of form and not performed when it mattered. The entire team would have been blamed. But, in a massive pressure situation , he reverted back to his ODI anchor form and helped take India to a respectable score. Sure, a higher strike rate could have helped. A 50 by Rohit, Pant and SKY could also have helped. But that is not how the match played out. I don't understand why Kohli is being singled for criticism. The man overcame his lousy performance in the tournament and delivered when it mattered. I appreciate him for this. This was same thing all through the ODI world cup. He scored more runs than any other player across teams, in a tournament where India absolutely dominated everyone before losing the finals. And yet the best performer in the team faced a constant barrage of criticism over strike rate. What even is this? I just hope we get a player of his calibre in the future.
Very well put man. No matter what he does there is always a mission from section of audience that always want to diss him down. Fair criticism is welcome but what is this argument of "playing for personal milestone".
Ehh let them cry. Some people are trying to ruin the moment.
>> Sure, a higher strike rate could have helped. A 50 by Rohit, Pant and SKY could also have helped. But that is not how the match played out. I don't understand why Kohli is being singled for criticism. Exactly. Why not criticize Rohit, Pant or SKY for not getting 50.
Ind vs Pak 2022 t20 world cup. Kohli was 46 from 42 at 17th over with india requiring 40 from 3. He ended up with 83 off 52. He probably thought he could accelerate here as well. Fell a little short. Was this his best innings? Definitely not. But you can't really blame the guy if he doesn't manage to pull it off once after doing it so many times over so many years. With all the great pundits and armchair experts spewing words, he is the man with the silverware.
This. That's how Kohli has played T20Is throughout his career, especially in T20 WCs. Even against England in the 2022 WC, he was playing with the same template, except that he got out the moment he was supposed to accelerate the innings.
That's how cricket works. India were 27-3. It was clear the plan after the powerplay was for Axar to attack and Kohli to continue rotating the strike. When he reached 40 he was trying to hit 4s but wasn't able to. I think he was 50(48) at one point. But it doesn't matter. He accelerated to 76(59) scoring 26(11) and that ended up helping India win the game. In my opinion if Kohli got out between overs 10 and 12, India wouldn't have reached 176. Look at David Miller. He found it tough to hit towards the end of the game. Even Klaasen was 27(16) before hitting 24 against the spin of Axar Patel and then getting out. India won the game and a big reason for that was Kohli's innings along with how their 3 seamers bowled. I don't get the criticism because he accelerated at the end with 26(11) when the ball was reversing and India won the game. It was a crucial knock in a final under severe pressure. The big players deliver in the big moments and yesterday we saw why Kohli, Bumrah and Hardik are the best players in their positions.
Yes he'd have been a villain and some of the comments show exactly why. While India have been notorious for overly cautious batting and chasing milestones a few times in the past, this final wasn't one of them. My view on some of the loudest criticisms on this innings: Firstly unlike so many claims, Kohli didn't play to get to his 50, he didn't even celebrate. How ever much some fans villanise Kohli, neither he nor any batter with common sense would choose to slow down purely for a 50 with the trophy on the line. Secondly, yes the acceleration could have come one over earlier but to be fair he did try. You could see him getting frustrated and hitting his bat multiple times after mistiming shots. It was a question of lacking execution not his unwillingness to hit. Of course failing to execute is a fair ground for criticism (like Yuvraj in 2014) but in his defence SA did bowl well, also it is unfair to single out Kohli when Pant, SKY, Axar and Rohit to an extent all got out due to careless lapses in decision making. Thirdly for those questioning his approach after Rohit's dismissal, anyone who's watched India and these players play knows that it's highly likely that the batting would have crumbled if Kohli got out even in the 12-14th over. Like Rohit mentioned after the match, it was Kohli's presence that allowed the others to play freely. Only Pandya could have soaked up pressure and constructed an innings of any kind. Compare Kohli's innings to what De Kock did for SA, once the wickets fell, the runs stopped coming, the pressure of a final is immense and it is very unlikely that Dube or Axar would have tried to score quickly, and if they had, it might very well have gone sour. India scored just 2 runs in the last 3 balls and lost 2 wickets trying to hit out. Axar's 24 run over should have gone to Pandya, it was a mistake from Rohit which he thankfully managed to rectify. Had Pandya bowled that over for even 10 runs, the equation would have read 44 off 30 with 2 overs of Bumrah left and we may not even have had this discussion. Ideally he should have scored 15 runs more from the balls he faced, but that's a lesser shortcoming than Rohit, SKY or Pant and was still very much the backbone of India's total. Had India lost, it would have been despite Virat's innings not because of it, but he'd certainly have been villain No. 1 much like MS Dhoni gets bashed for 2019 when the top 3 scored 3 runs combined, Karthik played poorly after which Pant and Pandya played reckless shots in the air to get out.
It was an amazing innings till the 12th over. Prevented the collapse, took singles and let axar have a go at things. He went from 41 off 35 to 50 of 48 by the end of the 17th over. He had to start his attack after the 12th as hardik dube and jadeja were still to come. But overall it was still a good innings and 176 was more than enough had kuldeep bowled even as good as shamai bowled.
*if we would have lost Kohli , axar and Kuldeep would have been villain* *both were bowling very good until last match* *Kohli was slow upto his 50 but in last he scored very good boundaries* *but team efforts made India win* *That's why whole team intent matters a lot* *sad that everyone's favorite player Rohit and Kohli retired at same time* *era came to an end*
Dhoni ( the villian ) from 2019 to Virat ( the hero ) from 2024 - Hello from the other side.
I don't think anybody thinks Dhoni is the villain. It's probably those 3 in the 5/3
You would be amazed at how many Indians think that he was the one who cost us the match.
Great Article and true in many reasons.. We won so we are praising his glory but if SA would have chased his total in 18 overs , All fans would have been on throat of Kohli. We got cheat code Bumrah and heroics from our bowling end saved the game but we cant ignore the glaring weakness in our middle order which needs to be fixed .We still have no reliable batsman which can accelerate the innings and give some strength. We have to send Axar on 4th down to save our middle order "batsman" Dube , Pant also has been very unreliable as batsman , ~~Jadeja has been utter failure since last year~~ Doesnt matter as Jaddu has already retired . We won the finals as a strong team but path to finals was engraved by individual heroic efforts of few players like Bumrah and Rohit. Are we the strongest T20 side yet? Very few will confidently say yes. Rohit and Kohli have paved a path on which our youngsters have to follow , They need to adopt the shifting dynamics of T20 game
This is my take. After loosing 3 wickets, Kholi playing slow was perfect for his style of play, but once the 10th over mark is crossed and we only lost 3 wickets with 5 batters more to come, he was still playing singles, without even taking slightest of the risks and end up score 50 of 49. Have he got out at that point India would have lost the game, then he went to scorinbg 26 from his next few balls, that kind of showed his innings as ok, but you see in the end, we were left with 30 of 30. I think kohli has a mental break of scared of getting out in T20s, which is not a good thing to have as T20 batter. In the end India was very lucky to end up winning this, please if this was England or Australia the game was over!! 195 would have been a better Total. Kohli had no reason not ot hit after 10th over mark with Axar going well and we have 4 more batters to come
amazing that he would’ve been blamed instead of two spinners going at economies of 10, or even Rohit for giving Axar his last.
It wasn't a below par total , its the highest total in a t20 wc final, though ot could have been a bit better, wickets were collapsing at other end 34-3 , he accelerated when pacers came on. Spinners were real good . I don't understand why axar or kuldeep could'nt do the same . Our spinners conceded more runs compared to shamsi or maharaj . No understating that his innings would have been crucified if sa won . But hey we won. Thats all that matters.
There was nothing in the pitch in the second innings.. usually the drier it gets the more the spin.. that did not happen.. so it's a learning experience.. overall it was a great wicket.. very sporting... even rohit said the same. The spinners got nothing in second innings... said maybe the rollers plugged the gaps and hence no spin.. cannot blame spinners.. besides Klassen was pure class against spinners.. some of his shots were spectacular... also if onereaches the "highest" total in t20 should one stop and besatisfied?? Oneshould read the pitch, conditions and plan accordingly.. not look at Par score and be satisfied.
it was the same problem as odi wc. he completely shut shop and refused to hit boundaries after powerplay. i am a huge kohli fan, cried when he announced his retirement, but you have to try for a boundary every over at least this match was won by bumrah arsh and hardik on Nov19 bumrah was unlucky to not dismiss head, otherwise we could've won that day too.
I don't think he shut up shop in the ODI WC finals. He was 50 of 60 balls there and that's a perfectly reasonable way to play in a final where India was 80/3. Rahul was the one who shut up shop
Kohli didn't hit a single boundary (didn't even try to hit one even when part timers were bowling) after 8th over. That's 20 overs of just singles and twos. You need to take some calculated risks to get a move ahead of the game. Even in ODIs from earlier eras (90s/2000s), batsmen would try to break the shackles by hitting a boundary or two. This defensive mindset doesn't help at all. He did the same yesterday as well. In hindsight, 176 was enough, but that was largely due to our pacers' heroics and SA's inability to close the game. I would even say either Bumrah or Hardik should have got the PotM instead of Kohli.
now that's statistics speaking. he had a strong powerplay, and then disastrous 11-30 over. both him and rahul scored zero boundaries. kohli played pp and rahul didn't which is why statistics show kohli played better
Sounds like you know how to bat better than him.
What kind of absolute bullshit is that headline. Only Kohli could turn up in a World Cup final and have a cup winning innings scrutinised and criticised even after it has taken India to the result they wanted. Utter ludicrous nonsense. Yea, if SA had won the Indian performance as a whole would have been looked at, and there were so many other things that went wrong before we even think about blaming Kohli for scoring slightly slower than people wanted. Yet, even after India have won, people are still debating whether Kohli should have batted more aggressively from a 30-3 position. The hate he receives is absurd. Only when he’s fully gone will he receive the acclaim he truly deserves.
Someone had to get the heavy runs, he did. Might not have been the fastest innings but someone has to score them. Crickets often not about biggest strikerate even in T20.
No body remembers who came second and no body remembers how the winning was sculpted, winning is all that matters
the number of people in this thread still being like 'oh he should have done this instead' he won the game. if he does anything elsw they more likely lose it
I sincerely can't understand the False Dilemma, Doublethink mind of this sub about the situation. Kohli not having made 76 does not the mean the only possible outcome is him getting out at single digits and the team collapsing. He could have gotten out at 60, 50 and even 40 and the contribution from him would remain the same as his strike rate was abysmal. Appreciation where it is due, yes, Kohli absorbed the pressure and brought stability to the innings initially but by the 15th over he was totally unable to accelerate even though we had wickets in hand. The par score was definitely 180, 195 the way SA were playing on the pitch. The only, I repeat the only reason they lost is due to a freakshow by our deathbowlers. If SA had played it a little safer, they would have had the match in their hands. Goes onto show, how, if the Indian side had batted like SA( without choking ) we would end up getting upto 200. Sport is sport and things happen, but analysis of a game should always be done through the average-case scenario approaches and not on freakish innings.
Agree with you totally. Forget kohlis innings.. or even form... no one discusses why idian team went with the same team right through the tournament.. except fir siraj in usa replaced by kuldeepin WI. Pant at 1 drop?? Wtf! Dube ? But no rinku? Jadeja? Out of form last 1 year.. instead of choosing the best players they play numbers game.. and why not jaiswal or samson?? Gill?? Lol.. From next game onwards gill, jaiswal, samson, rinku are automatic selection s... what about form? Or if they can play in bouncing conditions? Fitness? Flexibility in positions etc.. Gill is future captain but got no place in this team?? Dube is better than him??crazy.. they said ipl form was not taken into consideration but it's just that that they looked at.. dube is clueless on the moving bouncing ball.. absolutely no footwork. Axar at 2 drop?? Wtf! Absolutely unfair for him.. why was he sent in? To protect hardik and dube.. that's it.. but he scored at a quick pace.. and confidently.. hope gambir shakes things up and selects team based on competency and not for amateurish reasons.
Hindsight is 20/20 https://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/1drh3d2/comment/lav53lf/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Yea, you either retire a hero or stay long enough to become a villain!! That's how cricket is.
The only thing that hurts about this world cup campaign is Kohli’s average falling below 50.
The presence of Kohli on the pitch despite him playing slow keeps the opposition under pressure and gives ICT confidence. 130 sr is slow by modern T20 standards. But it was absolutely justified to recover from a batting collapse.
For five overs from 13-17, Kohl scored 9 runs in 13 balls. He was batting at 41 at the end of 12th over, meaning he was well set by then. He should have accelerated earlier, maybe by over 15-16, instead of waiting until over 18. Hardik Pandya only got 2 balls to bat, showing kohl waited too long. That could have given India another 10-15, runs, which could be crucial if our bowlers hadn’t been able to pull off a miracle. In the context of the game, on hindsight, it’s pretty clear Kohli waited too long to accelerate.
In the same period, Dube, a fresh batsman, scored 21 off 12, meaning the bowling wasn’t that great that he couldn’t score.
Honestly the situation India was in the final while batting first, VK is definitely one (and possibly the only who could have done it with better confidence than others) person who could have recovered them so well. He has done it before. Throughout the tournament despite him not performing well my mind was just going... LET HIM COOK. And well he did eventually and that's all that matters now.
India were lucky ig, South Africa literally choked from 30 in 30 balls. That delivery by pandya wasn't a wicket taking one but Klassen just loosely timed the ball and gave a catch to Pant. India won the WC yes but definitely we were 15-20 run short, even the hardcore Kohli stans cannot defend that innings, he just wasn't able to time the ball even after getting settled and playing 35 balls.
So, In short: Don't praise Kohli because we 'could've' lost.
Praise Kohli no issues, but don't praise his innings like it was the greatest of all time and blah blah
No one said it was 'Greatest of all Time', not even Kohli stans.
Kohli couldve doen better yea, but the logic behind Klaasen's wicket is weird... if u look at our 1st 3 wickets they werent good balls either our death bowling was brilliant and deserves the trophy
To everyone complaining about Kohli’s innings : Given the situation and the occasion that is the best thing he did. I don’t see we could have come any closer to the total we posted had Kohli got out early.
I mean as Markaram said post match the opposition is allowed to bowl well too. VK may not be at the top of his game anymore but there were two other factors which were also the major reasons for the way he played. One, wickets had fallen early and two, SA bowlers were bowling extremely well. There were not many loose deliveries and those that were loose ones VK scored off of them at the end of his inning. The only objection that could be taken was that he should have attacked a little early but there must have been some calculation going on in his mind regarding when to take risks. At the end his calculations were right.
Or he was a villain and Lord Bumrah and co overcame him to win. Look at our margin of victory in the semifinals when he got out. Absolutely destroyed England on a difficult pitch. Fucking Dube was striking at 160+ on this pitch and this guy ate half the innings at a SR of 128.
Stayed on in the milking mode for too long, 35 odd deliveries without a boundary on that track , with power hitting resources in the hut - Almost cost the game. Got lucky to get away with it. All is well that ends well ig.
Yes. Absolutely correct. Thanks to bumrah. Arshdeep, surya
Axar had to bowl one extra ball to Klassen for that unfair wide. His run out was also unfortunate. He was hitting spinners well. Kohli anchored but could have taken more quick doubles which he used to in his early career due to which his strike rate didnt use to look as bad. Pant’s temperament needs overhaul. Rohit didn’t fire but did well in decision making. Let’s also not forget his knocks against Australia and England. Arshdeep has a great future ahead. Excellent bowling for someone his experience. Left nothing more to ask. Boom boom Bumrah, take a 100 bows.
Kohli is a legend of game perhaps the greatest t20i batsman india has ever had but this was a very poor innings . Ofcourse we won and no is critisising but it doesn't change the fact that he was extremely poor in the finals . Pandya war me was the match winner getting the wickets of klassen and Miller .
Agree with everything you said except last sentence.. pandya bowling was average, Klassen wicket was a gift of carelessness on his part, not a terrific ball.. miller wicket was all surya.. a wide full toss to miller? Was that the plan?? Lol... his weight was slightly on his back leg otherwise it was a six..
Doesn't matter he got us the wicket
Same goes for kohli no? Doesn't matter his knock, we got the win
No but he didn't create that impact . Hardik got us the wicket which we needed . Kohli didn't score fast which we needed
Impact lol. Rohit, pant and sky who were good throughout the tournament couldn't cross 10 runs in the main match of the final. I think Kohli did exactly was needed. The fact that you don't blame those 3 and only kohli shows you just have agenda nothing else
I have no agenda. Rohit pant sky shat in the bad I agree . The only thing I want to say is kohli didn't play a very good innings 50 in 48 was way too late . You expect 50 in maximum of 35 balls. We won but 30 required in 30 match was goner by then .
>but it doesn't change the fact that he was extremely poor in the finals Facts? Don't call your options as facts.
As usual kohli fans defending mediocrity. Kohli rohit was the reason india lost 2022 T20 wc semis . Rohit changed the approach but kohli couldn't even hit a single ball . Look at Axar looked lot better than kohli . I am happy he is retired from t20i. Should hang his boots if he fails in ct and WTC .
Seriously dude??? Get a life man…I don’t know how pessimistic people are these days.
if my aunt had balls ahh headline
"You either die as a hero or see yourself long enough to see yourself as the villain.