VIRAT KOHLI- The MAD Genius !.

(Image Courtesy: Twitter/ICC)

 Imagine Oshane Thomas running in and bowling at 143kmph. He is bowling a short length ball outside off stump. It's just wide enough to free the arms. And that ball is steeping through to Shai Hope. Imagine any player you like and think what shot he would play.

Had it been Rohit Sharma, it might be a square cut over point or might be an uppercut over gully or in between gully and third man by Hardik Pandya. For MS Dhoni, it might have been a Forehand slap over point standing on his left leg.

BUT!. But, it's VIRAT KOHLI.

Virat Kohli comes in after an early wicket as Rohit Sharma was adjudged LBW by the third umpire. He has scored three consecutive fifties so far in this tournament at an average tad above 60. He gets off the mark on the third ball he faces which was short, wide and outside off and was cut fiercely through point and gully for four. That's the kind of form he has been in this tournament and a century was overdue.

Cut short to the second ball of the eleventh over of the Indian innings. Oshane bowls that ball that's 143kmph as in described earlier. Virat Kohli does his formal forward press, realises the length is not full enough and pulls back the right leg ever slightly so keeping the left leg firm on ground in order to maintain the balance and on doing so transferring the weight on to the back foot, drives a short ball that's just about his chest high over cover region with his hands in the exact motion of a cover drive.

That shot had an orgasmic effect on me. The more I watched it again and again, the more the high I was. I mean, who drives a chest high ball with that perfect arc and elbow position over covers!. That's MADNESS!. He's gotta be freaking nuts to do that. But, there's a reason why that label on his MRF bat sticker reads "Genius"!

That's what Virat Kohli is!. He's a freaking Genius with the bat!.

It makes me go down dumbstruck and get depressed again and again on how easy he made that shot look. He had played similar shots over deep cover. But those are slaps over cover point. And that's a fair shot to play. But NOT THIS. Not in the way his elbow went and that arc he maintained through the shot like he does while playing a cover drive blindfolded.

I watched all those four half-centuries on loop before starting to write this. He has played quite a few excellent shots so far. He lofted Mitchell Starc over extra cover for a six when he was too full. There were a couple of extra cover drives of Mohammed Amir. One along the ground and one over the infield. Those three shots were the closest to what he played today. But all those shots came after crossing his half-century. 

Today what he played was only the seventh ball he was facing and it was off the back foot. And that is why for me, this shot of Oshane, driving a short ball over covers is  "The Virat Kohli Shot of the Tournament" of all the shots he has played so far in this world cup.

WATCH: Virat Kohli's slashing four off Oshane Thomas

It might look as if I am exaggerating. But go back and watch that shot a few times and think whether any other Batsman in the world would have played that shot to that ball with that perfection. You might just agree with me.

Also, the way he has got out so far tells a story. Against Australia, he got out to a similar ball while slapping it over deep cover but couldn't maintain shape and his weight was falling over on his front foot. Against Pakistan, he declared himself out, while the entire world felt otherwise. Against Afghanistan, he got a long hop outside off stump which bounced a tad more than he anticipated and edged a cut short to short third man. Even today it was a long hop from Jason Holder which didn't bounce much and he ended up pulling it to short mid-wicket.

Maybe, the best is yet to come.

Because it's VIRAT KOHLI. And with him, we never know what more he is going to offer us.

TAKE A BOW!. GENIUS!.

Disclaimer: Please don't try playing this shot, while you playing in a match and get out only to blame Virat Kohli.

#India #WestIndies #Cwc2019 #TeamIndia  #ViratKohli #Genius #KingKohli

Time for the "Chinna Thala" to live up to the name !

      The Chennai Super Kings are through to the playoffs and their fans are happy as all is going well despite the flaws in the squad. They are good enough to win this season. But I am worried. I am worried because I feel that this well might be the swansong for "Thala" MS Dhoni with the franchise as a captain/player. Even if I am wrong we might have one more season utmost. We shouldn't expect MS to be playing at 39/40, don't we?

      So what is CSK without MSD?  Hard to imagine, isn't it. Do they have an immediate torchbearer? Someone Chepauk would go crazy for and support wholeheartedly like their own? Isn't that the culture and trademark of the city and the franchise? Actually, they do have one. Their own "Chinna Thala" Suresh Raina.  

   Suresh Raina has been an excellent deputy for MS Dhoni and they both have been the pillars of the franchise since 2008. ( Image Courtesy: Gettyimages.com)

      Suresh Raina has been an IPL legend over the past decade. Time and again he has won so many matches for Chennai Super Kings since the insertion of the tournament. He comes in and scores 400 runs or more every year for Chennai and more importantly he wins them matches. Whenever the going got tough, he was there soaking it up for them. Nobody can forget his epic innings against Punjab at Bangalore where he scored 83 of 27 balls and almost bailed them out in the 2014 eliminator.

      Yet, he is struggling with the bat now. In fact, the past couple of years hasn't been great for him. He might have scored 400 plus runs last season too. But, he isn't dominating like he used to, neither is he winning matches with his knocks. He is playing second fiddle to Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu or MS Dhoni whoever plays the dominant role on the day. And in this season, it is even worse. 

    Over the past decade, Raina has been the most consistent batsman of the tournament. 

(Stat courtesy: Iplt20.com)

      I am unable to figure out what it is. Whether it's the fitness(he isn't as agile as he used to be), or just the self-belief/confidence that Raina is lacking. He has scored 245 runs at an average of 24.5 with just one 50 in 11 innings so far. He is also coming after an off domestic season, averaging 16 in 6 matches in the Syed Ali Mushtaq trophy that concluded recently.

      And CSK needs Raina now more than ever. Watson is struggling though he had a played a great knock last game, Rayudu is still searching for his 3D glasses and it is only Dhoni who has scored the bulk of the runs. The one match that Dhoni didn't play, both Raina and CSK looked all at sea. Believe me, they are far better than that. Both him as a captain and CSK as a team. 

      For a franchise much known for the calmness surrounded around their captain, it was their deputy who kept it alive on the field. Raina was a bundle of energy and he was always the first to lift the bowler up when a wicket falls. He takes improbable catches quite often out of thin air to dismiss a destructive batsman who is going after bowlers. He was everywhere on the field. 

       We don't see that Raina anymore. He might have become the senior statesman and a calmer vice-captain himself. But he isn't doing his job with the bat and that it is affecting him in all aspects. He even dropped a simple catch the other day. We don't see Suresh Raina drop catches, do we? More than just the runs, its the way he is getting out, which is worrisome. 

   It looked almost as if he was expecting the short ball up front from Dale Steyn.

(Image courtesy: iplt20.com)

      Come July 7, MSD will be 38 and as I mentioned already this might be his last if not the penultimate season as a player. And they will go into an auction only in 2020. One cannot see CSK go into auction looking for a star/captain/face to represent them. It has to be Suresh Raina himself for the next three to four years at least until they find a new young star and make him their own. 

   

 Raina has to be one to take over from MS sooner or later and
hope he gets his confidence back before that. (Image courtesy: gettyimages.com)

        It's high time their "Chinna Thala" lives up to the tag that has been given and starts leading the scoreboard and wins matches like he used to. Hope he turns it around soon for the good of himself and the franchise.

Just because it's MS Dhoni, it ain't right !

    It was the return leg of  Rajasthan Royals Vs Chennai Super Kings at Jaipur yesterday. Chennai was chasing 152 and was rocked by four quick wickets. Ambati Rayudu and Dhoni steadied the ship before cruising towards the target.

    In the last over, Chennai needed 18 with Jadeja and Dhoni at the crease. Three balls later it came down to 8 off 3 balls. On the fourth ball, Ben Stokes bowled a waist-high full toss which was initially called a no-ball by the straight umpire Ulhas Gandhe only to be denied by square leg umpire Bruce Oxenford.

    The alarm went off at the ground and everyone saw Ulhas signaling No ball. This caused mayhem as Jadeja was disappointed and was having a conversation with the umpires. Seeing all this happening on the field, Dhoni who got out the previous ball was walked in furiously and had a heated conversation with both the umpires pointing out to his hand to Ulhas Gandhe. It went on for a couple of minutes as Rajasthan players gathered in as well. The no-ball wasn't called in the end and the match went on. Mitch Santner hit a six off the last ball and won it for CSK.

       MS Dhoni furiously having a conversation with the umpires.

                                                                       (Image source: iplt20.com)

   MS Dhoni who got out in the third ball had no business and needn't had to walk-in for an umpiring error or confusion. There were two batsmen at the crease and umpires had to take a call irrespective of what it is. Dhoni needn't had to walk-in animatedly and talk furiously to the umpires. He could have waited and said or reacted the way he wanted after the match got over or in the post-match presentations.

MS Dhoni walks on to the field when no-ball was denied. (Image source: iplt20.com)

   But what happened at the presentation is even more amusing. The presenter didn't ask a word about the conversation or the no-ball controversy to Dhoni. Even when MS asked whether he is asking about what happened with the umpires the presenter politely denies saying he didn't mean so.

  Imagine how people, fans or even the presenter would have reacted had it been Virat Kohli in place of Dhoni. Now because it's Dhoni who is a calm person, we cannot afford to celebrate what he did and applaud the same like most fans are already doing. It is just the superstardom getting bigger than what's right at times.

  The irony is that it's the same day(11th April 2016) a few years ago Harsha Bhogle expressed his thoughts after being removed from IPL commentary panel in 2016. Earlier in that year, Amitabh Bachchan tweeted about him not supporting India while commentating and Dhoni also retweeted that. Post that, he was removed from the commentary team in the 2016 IPL. Link to that post is below.

Harsha Bhogle reacts after being removed from 2016 IPL commentary team 

Now here's what he had to say about the yesterday event and I also stand by that. 

  

    I admire MS Dhoni as much as anybody else and love him for a lot of things he does on a cricket field. Yet what he did today isn't something I am proud of or happy about. It's heartening to see that he has been reprimanded 50 percent of his match fee for breaching the code of conduct. Dhoni himself admitted a level 2 offense 2.20 according to IPL code of conduct and accepted the sanction.

Source: MS Dhoni fined for breaching the code of conduct