Virat's Desert Storm?

[vvvslaxman]

Ok.. your words suggested it happened multiple times. btw- does it matter, the timing of the yorker? ( previous ball, anticipation/pre-meditation, run of play, amount of swing, some randomness? ....) considering at least few of these factors - how many of exactly 'similar' deliveries did VK put away? And how many the budhao choked on?

Kohli put 3 deliveries on the stumps to four consecutively. Sachin played a fancy shot against a straight low full toss and got out.

[CG]

About 14 years ago India were in a similar situation. We had to maintain a decently tough run rate (if not win) against Australia to make it to the final. The Gods had a say too - they sent a sand storm in Sharjah. The Indian team did its part - lived up to the then notion that we were a one man team. None stood beside the "one man" of the one-man team except Laxman for a brief while. A great man fought the Gods and made them bow to him. The great man's greatness was already known by then. But as it had happened back in 1840 BCE (and a few times since), the metamorphosis from a mere Great to a Buddha happened. The Buddha arose and showed the sand storm causing Gods how mortal they were. The nirvana of the Batting Buddha was witnessed by the world that day. Today, 14 years later a new star has done a similar (and possibly better job since it resulted in victory). Even given the fact that today's star was helped by 4 others with influential contributions the star has well and truly shone. Only time will tell if the new star will get an opportunity to play the final and win the final like the Batting Buddha did 14 years ago. But, one thing is for sure, today we have witnessed the metamorphic event of a star turning at the crossroads to walk on the path to become an ATG. Only the father knows whether today's star will become an ATG or rise even higher and become another Batting Buddha but the people who have seen him today sure know they have witnessed one of the greatest ODI innings of all time. The world has witnessed a display of supreme batsmanship that brought about a miracle. Thank You, Virat Kohli, for it is performances like these that keep us hooked to the game.

Great knock,But true path to atg will come In tests.In odis he has always been very good.

[Prakat]

Seen great innings from lot of players. This gotta be one of the most authoritative ODI innings i have ever seen. The swagger ' date=' poise, control with which he played was incredible to watch. There are lot of power packed innings you might have seen from Gayle, Gilly, Jayasuriya, Yuvraj. But this was just sublime.[/quote'] +1 Kohli was making excellent use of the inch or two that Malinga was missing in length with those attempted yorkers. Wouldn't call that bad bowling by any stretch of imagination.

[Sachinism]

Malinga didn't change up, but Virats batting was out of this world. He was going for the yorkers, Kohli backed himself to put him away better than most would have imagined. Playing high risk shots across the line and pulling it off is amazing, missed anyone of those and he was gone. How many times of late have been seen Sachin get out playing across the line?

[ganeshran]

^ Kohli is on top of his game. His hand-eye and footwork are both amazing thats why he is able to pull them one after the other. SRT is not in the nick to play these high risk shots now. IMO he should eliminate the shot till he finds his form back, unless the bowler bowls way down the legside taking lbw out of the question. His back foot punches , cover drives and straight drive still come off brilliantly though

[CG]

^ Kohli is on top of his game. His hand-eye and footwork are both amazing thats why he is able to pull them one after the other. SRT is not in the nick to play these high risk shots now. IMO he should eliminate the shot till he finds his form back, unless the bowler bowls way down the legside taking lbw out of the question. His back foot punches , cover drives and straight drive still come off brilliantly though

Sachin played a pre meditated shot thats why he missed it.

[rabinjackman]

This is honestly one of the best innings I have ever seen

[Sachinism]

^ Kohli is on top of his game. His hand-eye and footwork are both amazing thats why he is able to pull them one after the other. SRT is not in the nick to play these high risk shots now. IMO he should eliminate the shot till he finds his form back, unless the bowler bowls way down the legside taking lbw out of the question. His back foot punches , cover drives and straight drive still come off brilliantly though

Agreed man, feel like pulling my hair out when I see him do that after playing some of the best orthodox shots possible

[satishg]

A great innings no doubt but i think SRT's knock against Australia was much better because of the quality of that bowling attack (Kasper, Fleming, Warne) and they dint bowl that badly compared to what SL bowled in this match. He decimated that attack with ease, whereas this SL bowling attack was clueless once Kohli started going bonkers. Malinga, Kula, Perera and Angelo are no where close to the 1998 Australian bowling attack. But Kohli surely has hit the purple patch of his career, he should make it count and convert every start he gets into a big one. If India gets into the final, Virat should score 1 century at least in the 2 finals given the form he is in.

[Ultimate_Game]

If there's an innings where a batsman was in the zone, this was it. I have never seen an innings where the batsman was in the "zone" throughout and towards the end it looked Kohli can hit any delivery from anyone for a boundary. Doing it in a situation we were in, i.e. chasing 321 in 40 overs adds to the accomplishment

[maniac]

If there's an innings where a batsman was in the zone' date=' this was it. [b']I have never seen an innings where the batsman was in the "zone" throughout and towards the end it looked Kohli can hit any delivery from anyone for a boundary. Doing it in a situation we were in, i.e. chasing 321 in 40 overs adds to the accomplishment

Not entitrely because....he was finding it difficult to time the ball initially,but credit to him for not throwing it away under pressure and boy did he get better or what as his innings progressed

[vvvslaxman]

http://theflyslip.net/2012/02/29/kohlis-impact/ We are not quite sure what went on last night. Sure we were sitting in our lounge watching the tele as it beamed out ball after ball of fours and sixes. But we didnt understand any of it. It was too much. :hysterical: At one point we didnt even want to watch it. But we did. Like how you dont want to see that 2 girls and a cup video but you still do. Kohli strapped on his dominatrix suit and abused Malinga as he pleased. There were no safe words. There is not much else to write about it to be honest. Except to write about what you would have seen on cricinfo had Kohli just decided to go home with the rest of the Indians on the 6am flight the next day. Kohli cost us a page2 piece. But we are nice enough to share it with you just the same. :cantstop: Following a string of hard to swallow victories for their Island neighbours the BCCI have started to question the authenticity of the current Sri Lankan cricket team. Although many pundits are calling this an outlandish PR move to take some heat off their own team, the BCCI maintains they have long suspected that this SL team arent quite what you expect from a typical Sri Lankan side. "Our initial suspicions were raised when our analyst pointed out that Dinesh Chandimal had only 3 names. Just 3 names for a SL cricketer? We were astonished. From then on we kept a close eye on him." said a BCCI official who wished to remain unnamed. "A typical Sri Lankan youngster comes in the form of a Kapugedara or Mubarak. As soon as they hit the international area they turn to jelly. But this Chandimal has been scoring runs everywhere like a consummate Pro. It doesnt add up. Young SL cricketers arent meant to score runs in difficult conditions or guide the team home. We all know that. He didnt even have an IPL contract until the last auction! Clearly questions need to be asked." The BCCI also brought to light the structure of the current SL side as one that is not befitting of the typical SL setup. "Honestly, we might as well be playing England all over again. 5 fast men in a single SL side? Do they have no respect for their roots as a sub continental side at all? Arjuna Ranatunga would be gobsmacked. When did their strike bowlers become medium pacers who cant even clock 130 at the WACA? Sachin said many times that he was hoping to target Dilshan but he hasnt even had a bowl. Frankly we are going to have to think twice before offering them another Cash Cow test series." "They have even dropped Murali and he is ONLY 39". When told Murali retired on his own accord the BCCI representative looked confused. "Retired? At 39? Ludicrous". "The Channel 9 team didnt even know half the Sri Lankan players at the start of the series. That is how it should be. Now everyone is talking about Thirimanne and Perera and spend entire commentary stints asking Tony Greig how to pronounce their names correctly" However, the BCCI official admitted that the only thing that has been remotely close to being in line with the casual and carefree way of the Islanders is the nonchalant fielding efforts that have been put in by Lasith Malinga and Chandimal "It is certainly been a breath of fresh air and good on them. Malingas fielding has been casual to the point of not caring. Chandimal didnt even looked upset after dropping Kohli twice. They just kept smiling away. This is the Sri Lanka we know and understand. I applaud them" But he was less cheerful when speaking about the new captain Mahela Jayawardene "Then you have Mahela who is leading the side like he was injected with a cocktail of ex Aussie captain genes. He is just too involved with everything. Dilshan and Sangakkara were exemplary Sri Lankan captains. They knew that the team was meant to be seen and not heard, so to speak. These are Sri Lankans, not an eleven of Steve Waughs disciples. I just hope Dhoni doesnt get too influenced by this sort of rabid disregard to your teams heritage." "Dont get me wrong, I like Sri Lanka, sort of, but it is unfair to others when Sri Lanka do not perform to your expectations. This is a world event and you want each country to represent their cricketing culture. Sri Lanka used to be this fun loving team filled with great characters like Gurusinghe and Arjuna that never won much. I think Sri Lanka need to take a good hard look at themselves and ask themselves whether it is really worth sacrificing their Kottu and Biriyani for a few quick singles. " The BCCI have stated that they will continue to monitor the situation and lodge an official complaint with Tony Greig the foremost authority on ÁÕhe little Sri Lankans should the situation get any worse. "As a leading entity in cricket, our concern is for the global game. We are deeply worried about the death of this once mediocre cricket side who used to be terrible away from home. Not only have Sri Lanka lost its charm but I suspect many will consider this a terrible slant on the Spirit of the Game."