Indian skipper Virat Kohli seemed to have regained his touch during the second T20I against England on Sunday, March 15 when he took India home in a run chase of 165.
Virat Kohli won the toss and put England in to bat first. They scored 164/6 on what looked to be a good batting track. Chasing 165, India lost its first wicket in the form of KL Rahul with the score still 0 at the end of the first over, when Kohli walked in.
While the other opener Ishan Kishan tonking the ball on his debut, Kohli kept ticking the scoreboard away from the other end. Once the blitzkrieg was over, Kohli saw to it that he remained unbeaten (on 73 off 49 deliveries) till the run chase was complete and the series was level 1-1.
Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag compared this ability of Kohli to the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who would make each of his big innings count.
Sehwag told Cricbuzz, "When it's Virat Kohli's days, he ensures he finishes the match and is right there till the end, irrespective of the format he is batting in. This is a special aspect about his batting. Like Ajay (Jadeja) said, Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan should learn from Kohli, that when it's your day, just don't get out. That's exactly what Tendulkar used to do."
"He used to tell me 'if today is a good day for you, then play as long as you can, remain not out and score runs' because what kind of day you have tomorrow, whether you'll score runs, is not known. But today you know the way you're playing, the ball is appearing like a football," he added.
The 42-year-old repeated his advice for Pant and Kishan to learn from Kohli about staying at the wicket on your day. Pant wanted to hit every ball when he came out to bat and the match situation pretty much in the favour of Team India. Sehwag would have liked to see him punish the bad balls and play the rest sensibly.
“So make the most of it and stay not out because it's important. This holds true for both Pant and Kishan, more so for Pant because when he came out to bat, he had hit a six and a four in that over. Had he rotated the strike, waited for the bad balls, the match could have been over sooner,” Sehwag added.
