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Flick towards square leg, lofted shot over mid-off, one over bowler's head, trademark cover drive, one as straight as an arrow, down the track and over mid-on, standing back and hitting another over mid-on and a straight drive to cap it off. Virat Kohli was not in a mood to defend in one of the many training sessions before the big semi-final against England at his favourite Australian destination – the Adelaide Oval.
The in-form Indian player and the leading run-scorer of T20 World Cup 2022 did not hold back and timed the ball with perfection in the nets. Kohli’s stand and deliver with exquisite timing on the side was at full display in a video posted by the 34-year-old. As he made the most out of the practice session, the fans in the background cheered as if there is a real match going on.
There is no doubt that Kohli likes the big stage to perform. In T20 World Cup knockout games, he has delivered every time. He demonstrated how to pace a run chase against South Africa in T20 World Cup 2014 semi-final with an unbeaten 44-ball 72. Few days later, he followed it up with a 58-ball 77 against Sri Lanka in the final. Against the Caribbean, he stood up to the task and smashed 89 not out off 47 deliveries in the semi-final of T20 World Cup 2016.
On November 10, he will face a fast and furious Mark Wood, reinvented Sam Curran who can now bowl a barrage of well-directed short balls and slower ones along with leggie Adil Rashid.
So far, the numbers favour Kohli. He has scored 589 runs from 19 innings at an average of 39.26 including four half-centuries. He is by far India's highest run-scorer against England in the format. Also, at Adelaide, he is only bested by the legendary Brian Lara for a touring batter. 34 more runs and Kohli will surpass Lara to become highest non-Australian run-scorer at Adelaide Oval across all formats.
