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Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has lauded Virat Kohli for walking the talk and turning it up a notch in big games. Karthik feels that noone has shown the kind of consistency Kohli has across the formats. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) mentor and batting coach recalled a team meeting from Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 where he claimed that he will taken down Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) pacer Dale Steyn and managed to do that in a rain-affected run chase.
“There are a lot of people over a period who have won games but Kohli had this amazing ability. The bigger the game he brought himself to the party a lot more. And I've been with him a lot. So there was this game against SRH, RCB versus SRH in 2015. It was a must-win game,” Karthik recalled during India Today Conclave South.
“David Warner was their captain and Virat was RCB's captain. And I remember walking into this team meeting and we had this batting meeting They (SRH) had Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and we used to obviously look at bowlers and say, ‘This is what he's looking to do, how are we going to take him down?’. So, everybody spoke about certain bowlers and then they said this is Dale Steyn, these are the areas that he could bowl. Kohli said, ‘Don't worry I'll take him down’. His confidence almost drove himself to success. He wanted to take down the best bowler in the opponent. That's what he thrived on and that I really enjoyed watching because in that game he really took Dale Steyn down.
"It became a 5-over [6-over run chase] match by the way. It rained, they got a certain score. In five [6] overs, we needed to get 70 [81]. But who was it who took down Dale Steyn with the new ball in a five-over (six) game when the pitch was damp and seaming. He opened with Chris Gayle.
“That game I was like, ‘Wow.’ Now, this is a skill that not many people can have. You can just say it in a closed room saying, ‘I'll take that bowler down.’ But to go out there when there are 40,000 people looking at you and believing that you're the guy to do it is a skill. And I think Virat Kohli was a master at that. He really was in that sense.”
Gayle’s destructive cameo, Kohli finishes in style
In the run chase of 81, Gayle started with a four and a six against Steyn. Kohli hit Steyn for a boundary as well and the South African pacer conceded 17 runs. In the second over, Gayle hit Bhuvneshwar for two sixes and three fours. In the third over, Moises Henriques got the wickets of Gayle and AB de Villiers off consecutive deliveries. Gayle scored 35 runs from just 10 balls.
Then, Karn Sharma got into the attack. Kohli finished the over with a six. Praveen Kumar was handed the ball by Warner and he got the wicket of Mandeep Singh. Kohli hit a six off Praveen as well. In the last over, 13 runs were needed. Karthik was run out off the second ball after a mix-up. The RCB skipper finished the run chase with two fours and a six. He remained unbeaten for 44 off just 19 balls.
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