Twenty20 has fully emerged as the most popular format of cricket because of power-hitting and unorthodox stroke-making. In the 20-over format, there are many hard-hitting batsmen but a few are the real master blasters. West Indian opener Chris Gayle, South Africa’s AB de Villiers and Indian Virat Kohli are on top with their consistent performances.
Indian Premier League’s ninth edition concluded with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beating the favourites Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to claim their first title. It was the first time in this season that Virat Kohli’s Bangalore lost a match because of their batsmen.
It was a contest between Royal Challengers’ batting and Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowling attack. RCB had the edge playing at home ground, but the Sunrisers’ bowlers held their nerves. It was RCB’s third defeat in IPL finals.
Kohli was handed the RCB’s captaincy in 2013.
In this last IPL edition, till the halfway mark, RCB were just ahead of Kings XI Punjab with only three wins in eight matches, but of the next six games they won five and finished second.
Virat Kohli, named Man-of-the-Tournament, remained the most successful batsman of the season with 973 runs, including four hundred and seven fifties with a strike rate of over 160; it was the highest aggregate not only in the IPL but in any T20 tournament worldwide.
He broke the record of 733 runs set by Chris Gayle in 2012 and equaled by Michael Hussey in 2013.
Kohli missed two records in the tournament, however. He fell one run behind Don Bradman’s most runs in one series record of 974 runs. Second, he was 27 runs short of becoming the first batsman to score 1000 runs in an IPL season.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s captain David Warner finished second with 848 runs and de Villiers was behind them with 687 runs.
Warner scored nine fifties, the most by any batsman. de Villiers hit six half-centuries and one hundred.
In the first qualifier match, chasing 159 against Gujarat, Bangalore had slumped to 68-6 and skipper Kohli was out for duck. But de Villiers came for rescue with a 47-ball 79 not out and shared an unbroken 91-run stand with Iqbal Abdulla to carry his side to the first IPL final since 2011.
Virat is a chase master. His average of 91.80 in T20 Internationals while chasing is almost double that of former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara’s 44.93.
No pitch or bowling attack has ever stopped Virat from winning matches for India when he is on fire. Kohli has the ability to play on any track.
In successful run-chases, his average goes up to over 122. On 17 times when India won he scored 737 runs, with eight half centuries. He remained not out on nine occasions.
Surprisingly his overseas performance is more impressive. He has 563 runs in 16 matches, averaging 62.55. At home, he has scored 526 runs in 14 matches, averaging 47.81.
Virat’s career average of 58.60 is the highest by any batsman in Twenty20 Internationals. No other batsman has even touched 40. Australian opener Aaron Finch is the second highest with 38.96.
Virat has claimed eight Man-of-the-Match awards, surpassing Yuvraj Singh’s seven.
Virat is always hungry for runs. He prepares for challenges, takes care of his fitness, and knows well how he’s supposed to bat in different circumstances. After the Pakistan match in World T20 he said that he loved to play on tough pitches like the one at Eden Gardens.
Virat is the backbone of the Indian batting in all three formats of the game. If he plays for another 10-12 years, he may surpass many records of Sachin Tendulkar and set some unbreakable records.