Nearly 35, does Virat Kohli still run as hard as before for his singles and twos? | Cricket-world-cup News

In a week’s time, on November 5, Virat Kohli would turn 35. Even as he recovered from poor form, mental-health issues, and the brouhaha over his captaincy, one aspect remained fascinating to track: will he run as hard as before or would he rely more on boundaries? He just doesn’t run; he tears down the pitch, a furious blur of emotions, adrenaline, eye-popping intensity, and desire. MS Dhoni will remain the best Indian runner between the wickets and his dash had that composure and self-control. His was a run of a man in control. Kohli’s is a liberating run. A manic dash of a man who seems to let go of all controls. What’s impressive is that while Dhoni has always run like this from the start of his career, Kohli’s a part of an evolution consciously and deliberately achieved an ambitious man. But will age catch up with him in that aspect?
In this World Cup, Virat has scored three fifties and one hundred in five innings, all while chasing. The only match he missed out was against Pakan in Ahmedabad. How has he paced out his knocks this world cup? Out of 354 runs, Virat has run 158 singles in this tournament.
India vs Australia (Chennai)
85 off 116 balls, 47 singles
The knock at Chennai was probably his scrappiest ODI knock. He was dropped on 12, was rattled on the helmet Starc; an inside edge off Cummins almost kissed the leg stump, but like a pro boxer, who was trailing in the first couple of rounds, he fought his way back and won the match for India on a tricky Chepauk surface.
Kohli walked out with India reeling at 2 for 3. He along with KL Rahul, dug their heels and the end of the powerplay, India were 27 for 2. In the first fifty deliveries he faced, Kohli hit only two boundaries. But with Rahul on the other end, the pressure never got into him. Rahul took on Zampa, hitting three boundaries in the 18th over. Kohli reached his fifty in 75 balls and the time he got out, his 165-run stand with KL had almost steered India home.
During the partnership, the duo ran 85 singles and nine twos. Out of those, Kohli ran 47 singles and seven twos. Rahul matched him with 38 singles. This just shows how the rotating of the strike has helped Kohli and Rahul to deflect the initial pressure build the Australian seamers
India vs Afghanan (New Delhi)
55 not out off 56 balls, 23 singles
It was Rohit Sharma’s show in Virat Kohli’s backyard. Virat forged a 49-run second-wicket stand with Rohit Sharma. They ran 17 singles, out of which 10 were Virat’s, who played the second fiddle and scored 18 runs in that stand.
Virat put on an unbeaten 68-run stand for the third wicket with Shreyas Iyer. Virat and Iyer ran 28 singles and four two’s. Kohli again pipped his partner, running 15 ones and three twos.
India vs Bangladesh (Pune)
103 not out off 97 balls, 45 singles
Exactly like Delhi, when Kohli walked out to bat in Pune, Rohit set the stage on fire, and the 88-run opening wicket stand with Shubman gave Kohli a perfect platform to launch his chase.
Kohli and Gill put together 44 runs for the second wicket. During the partnership, the present of Indian cricket outscored the future. Kohli scored 29 runs and set the tone right from ball one. The first four balls, Kohli faced he scored 13 runs, including a six off Hasan Mahmud.
Next in, Shreyas also failed to match Kohli’s fluency. Iyer managed only 19 in their 46-run stand. Kohli reached 50 in 48 balls and without changing any gear, the next fifty came in 49 balls as he reached his 48th century in ODI cricket.
With KL Rahul, Kohli formed another great partnership. The unbeaten 83 of 70 balls helped India to cruise to another victory. Just like in Chennai, the partnership was built on singles. They ran 35, with Virat and Rahul sharing 19 and 16, respectively.
Kohli took 45 singles during his unbeaten knock, and showed the power game he has added in his armoury recently hitting four sixes. Out of 103 runs, Kohli scored an astonishing 81 on the leg side.
Kohli finished the match with a six, completed his 48th ODI century, and apologised to Ravindra Jadeja in the post-match for stealing the player of the match award.
India vs New Zealand (Dharamsala)
95 off 104 balls, 43 singles
Another sparkling start Rohit, another clutch performance Virat, and almost levelled Sachin Tendlukar’s 49th ODI hundred but in trying to achieve the great feat, Kohli was caught at the boundary.
If in Pune, he dominated the on side, Bangladesh bowlers also helped with their poor length. But in Dharamsala, the Kiwis seamers tested Virat’s resilience and he showed a different game. In Dharamsala, Kohli scored 40 runs on the offside and 55 on the on.
In a tricky chase, Kohli put three fifty-plus partnerships. A quick 47-ball 52 with Shreyas put India on the driver’s seat. He played a perfect ally to Shreyas, who, before the fog interruption, smoked five boundaries.
Following Iyer’s departure, Kohli put on another excellent stand with KL Rahul, their third in this tournament. The significant feature of Kohli and Rahul’s partnership has been their running between the wickets. Rahul has matched Virat’s tempo in almost every game. They ran 24 singles in their partnership, with Rahul outrunning Kohli with 13.Most Read
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Following a hara-kiri with Suryakumar Yadav, Kohli’s 78-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja was a perfect tribute to the 2011 World Cup quarter-final, where Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina had stitched unbeaten 74 runs for the sixth wicket against Australia.
In Jadeja, Kohli found another brilliant partner. The duo ran 37 singles, with Jadeja taking 19. With pressure mounting, it was Jadeja who played the role of aggressor. After playing seven dots, he teed off with two boundaries, and then the six against Rachin Ravindra put India in control. From there onwards, it was all on Kohli, whether he will be able to sneak in another century. A six and four off Boult put Kohli into the 90s. He requested Jadeja to defend the last ball of the 47th over. With India needing seven runs to make it five in a row, Kohli also needed the exact same number to equal Sachin Tendulkar’s record. But he missed it five runs.
Since the start of the year, in 21 matches, Kohli has amassed 966 runs, with an average of 69 and a strike rate of 103.53, including four hundreds and five fifties. Kohli is fourth in the leading run-getter l of 2023, only three runs behind his skipper Rohit Sharma and 19 behind Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka. Shubman Gill is leading the chart with 1325 runs. Virat Kohli is still powering his way across the 22 yards for the hard-run singles for himself and his partners.
Kohli’s wagon wheel
vs Australia (85)
Off side – 34On side – 51
1s- 472s-73s-04s- 66- 0
vs Afghanan (55*)
Off side – 24On side – 31
1s- 232s-33s-04s- 66- 0
vs Bangladesh (103*)
Off side – 22On side – 81
1s- 452s-53s-04s- 66- 4
vs New Zealand (95)
Off side – 40
On side – 55
1s- 432s-43s-04s- 86s- 2
*Out of 354 runs, Virat has run 158 singles