Mohali: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has hailed yet another master class knock of Virat Kohli, saying that the combination of his inherent aggression and gradually developed calmness is working wonders for the star batsman.
Batting at the other end, Dhoni had the best seat in the house as Kohli single-handedly powered India into the ICC World T20 semi-finals with an unbeaten 82 off 51 balls against Australia in a must-win group match here last night.
"It was an incredible innings. Especially the fact that the wicket was not easy to bat on, it was difficult to hit back of a length deliveries. The good thing is that they didn't bowl too many spinners. He (Kohli) had a partnership with Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh), who twisted his ankle and they could not convert those one and a half runs into twos. It was tremendous batting effort by him, super batting. Especially the areas you want to score runs, there also he was very good and so was his running between the wickets," said Dhoni at the post-match presser.
Kohli scored the bulk of the runs in the unbeaten 67 runs stand off 31 balls with Dhoni, showing exemplary temperament in trying circumstances to get his team over the line.
Asked how difficult it is to bat like Kohli did when the crowd gets completely into the game, Dhoni said the innings spoke volumes about the right-hander's character.
"You are in the best position to enjoy. When everyone is having fun, celebrating the success, you want to click a picture of it in the mind. You won't really repeat it. You would obviously celebrate it in the dressing room, it is a team sport after all. It is a responsibility that the individual takes and gives you more chance to prove yourself for the team and country. It is a good thing to have and where it has also helped him, that when the game goes into the last over, a lot of things pop into your head," Dhoni said.
"When you are calm it helps you take the right decision. It is a good quality to be calm but at the same time, he will always be an aggressive cricketer ready to take on challenges. That is what I think is great. He is heading in the right direction and he should not lose his own character (aggression), that is what his strength is. He is batting amazingly well. He is fit, he he can field anywhere and at same time he runs hard," said the skipper.
The running between the wickets from Kohli and Dhoni was also exceptional and the captain thinks a fast runner in the team is always an asset. “He still needs to pay me. I was running his runs,” Dhoni quipped before explaining the value of a good runner.
“In the middle overs, if you are a good runner, it takes the pressure off you and puts pressure on the fielders and bowlers. I am not somebody who is great. I just play unorthodox cricket, push it for two and hit a six if it is in my area. I am not someone like Virat who can hit anywhere. Quite a few middle order batsman who have been good, they have been good runners too. One example of that is Michael Bevan. You have the opportunity of pushing the fielder, especially the faster bowlers. Every team has fielders who are the not the quickest or fielders who are quick but they don’t have a strong shoulder. So that is why you have to eye them,” he said.
Yuvraj was struggling with his ankle while batting with Kohli before getting caught at extra cover.
Asked what was the talk in the dug out in that scenario, Dhoni said: “It is an easy decision when two individuals like Yuvi and Virat are batting. Virat is the vice captain and Yuvi has played more than 250 ODIs for India. You have to leave it to them to take the best decision.”
