Focus on Kohli in India-England ODI series decider

India and England have everything to play for in the third ODI in Manchester on Sunday but so does Kohli.

It isn’t a high-priority format, not at least this year. But the series is tied 1-1. And this is also the last time you would get to see Virat Kohli for some days to come. In a busy year where India have been trying different players at different positions in different formats, Kohli has been repeatedly rested even though he has not put to rest doubts triggered by a deeply concerning lean run. It’s never about one person in a team game but so unconvincing has been this side-show that it now threatens to take over the main conversation. India and England have everything to play for in the third ODI in Manchester on Sunday but so does Kohli.

Virat Kohli during practice (Reuters)

Whether his inability to score big—Kohli last scored a fifty in January, at Cape Town–stems from a technical fault or something deeper is another story. But it has affected India’s batting goodwill to such an extent they look almost one-dimensional and too predictable. Rohit Sharma scoffed at questions over Kohli’s form last time. And like a good captain, he came out in support of Kohli in the most emphatic way possible. “He has played so many matches. He is playing for so many years. He is such a great batsman, so he does not need reassurance," Sharma said after the second ODI that India lost by 100 runs. "I pointed to this in my last press conference, too: form goes up and down, that is part and parcel of any cricketer's career. So a player like him, who has played for so many years, who has made so many runs, who has won so many matches, he only needs one or two good innings. That is my thinking and I am sure all those who follow cricket will think similarly."

Career runs and averages, as we are being forced to learn every day, are no longer the definitive way to measure a batter’s worth in the reinvented version of white-ball cricket. Kohli averages nearly 58 in ODIs now but only 22.57 in the seven matches he has played in 2022. The characteristic flair is waning, the hallmark boundaries in the ‘V’ have reduced drastically and when you see him edging the leaving delivery, you know he isn't in best batting shape irrespective of what anyone might say.

Top-order stability would be a blessing for India right now. But the roadmap to that too seems quite convoluted considering KL Rahul hasn't played for a long time due to injury. That also means Shikhar Dhawan gets another opportunity to improve a mediocre strike rate. Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant too are to be rested for the West Indies ODIs but the focus will be once again firmly on Kohli.