On 'God' Tendulkar's Turf, King Kohli Falls Short of No.49

At the end of the 30th over, moments after Shubman Gill was dismissed for a run-a-ball 92, Ishan Kishan and R Ashwin rushed out with drinks and a chair. Virat Kohli was down on his knees, looking exhausted by the heat and humidity, and a black towel was placed on his head as he comfortably sat in the chair and hydrated for the umpteenth time during his innings. The period saw Shreyas Iyer walk out to the middle and get his shadow routine underway but Kohli wanted to use every second of rest before taking guard again.

The King sat on his little throne in the middle of the ground and was just 13 runs away from equalling ‘God’ Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI hundreds. With the Little Master in the stands and his life-size statue observing proceedings, the setting couldn’t have been any better but today just wasn’t the day for the King to equal the feat on God’s turf. Seven deliveries after the break, the right-hander was deceived by a Dilshan Madushanka slower delivery and Pathum Nissanka completed a sharp, low catch in the short-cover region.

The capacity crowd at Wankhede was reduced to pin-drop silence as Kohli, after looking at the pitch for a brief second, began the long walk back to the pavilion. Ask any batter and they would tell you how long these walks feel whenever you are in striking distance of the three-figure mark. Don’t ask Kohli because not only was he close to three figures but also close to THE 49! For him, the metres would have felt like the long and painful walk back to his house in Juhu.

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For Wankhede, however, it would have been usual business as more than a decade ago it witnessed the Little Master falling 6 short (vs West Indies in a Test match) of what could have been his 100th hundred in international cricket. Tendulkar had to wait for nearly four months to get to the magical number and one would hope Kohli doesn’t take that long to get to No.49 or even No.50.

The iffy start

Kohli’s innings today could well be divided into two unequal phases. The first period – lasting no more than six overs of the innings – saw him getting tested by the moving ball but the moment Sri Lanka made a double change – removing Madhushanka and Dushmantha Chameera from the attack – it was back to Kohli doing Kohli things. The early test was a fascinating period of play where both Madhushanka and Chameera posed a lot of questions with sharp movement.

Madhushanka, in particular, had the trap for the incoming delivery laid and kept a man in catching position on the leg-side in the ring and also a widish leg-slip for the fine clip off the pads. The move nearly paid off when Kohli did flick fine towards the region but the right-hander was in complete control and found the little gap between the close-in fielder and the wicket-keeper.

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The real threat came in the sixth over, with Kohli batting on just 10, when Chameera created an opportunity but wasn’t able to hold on to a difficult chance. Looking to work it away on the side, Kohli could only manage a leading edge but it didn’t stick to Chameera’s fully stretched left hand.

Not just for Kohli, it was a watchful period for Shubman Gill also he too was dropped on 8 by Asalanka off Madhushanka. Both batters survived the period and cashed in on the early life and steadied the ship before cruising in dominating mode. Whatever help was there from the air or from the surface soon evaporated and it seemed someone had lifted the lid off the pressure cooker to release whatever assistance there was.

From there on, it was the King and Crown Prince putting on an ODI masterclass and not doing anything silly during their 189-run stand. They reached individual half-centuries, were looking set for big daddy hundreds but today just wasn’t the day for the duo as they fell in a space of just ten deliveries. Yes, Kohli didn’t equal the 49 ODI hundreds but he did go past Tendulkar’s record of 7 instances of scoring more than 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year.

The way he is batting, the 49th will come. Sooner or later but it will come. The setting today was ideal but there was an anti-climax in store.