Kohli run-ning show, winning battles

Ensuring minimal dot balls & banking on singles and twos, reasons behind Virat's success in ODIs

- GOMESH S @ Chennai

"I THINK there was about seven fours when I got a hundred (against Pakistan). For me, it's about just understanding the conditions, preparing my game accordingly, just rotating strike. Because partnerships on this pitch are the most important thing and my only effort that day and today was to string in enough partnerships." That was India batter Virat Kohli after the match-winning 84 against Australia in the semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai on Tuesday.

One Day International cricket is not the same as it was when Kohli started out in the late 2000s. Since then multiple double centuries have been made, several ceilings have been broken in terms of totals and boundaries hit. By and large, just the way teams look at what is expected to be a par total on a given surface has changed dramatically.

England were the front-runners of such a transformation through 2015-19 and India took a leaf out of their book post 2022. So much so that England captain Jos Buttler reiterated on multiple occasions that they want to do what Rohit Sharma and his lads are doing with the bat during the three-match series before the Champions Trophy.

While there are several factors and viewpoints to this change in dynamic, two new balls and flatter pitches included, at the core of it all is the shortest format and batters adapting to it, while applying the same through 50 overs.