Virat Kohli’s unbeaten hundred off 143 balls was one of the crucial pillars in India achieving a thumping 295-run win over Australia in first Test at Perth, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar pointed out that the right-handed batter was completely relaxed during his vintage knock in the second innings.
On the third day of the Perth Stadium match, Kohli feasted on an Australian bowling line-up exhausted to bring up his seventh Test hundred on Australian soil and level with Walter Hammond in a list of most hundreds by touring players in the longer form of the game led by Jack Hobbs' nine hundreds.
Kohli’s unbeaten century, his 30th ton in Tests came after 18 months, and was laced with eight fours and two sixes. “His body was completely relaxed when he came into bat in the second innings. In the first innings, because of the fact that India had lost two wickets early, he would have also been under pressure. In that second innings, you could feel apart from changing that stance, I think he also got his legs, which were perhaps just a little bit wider at the start.
"Just a little bit, maybe I'm thinking too much, but that little thing might have given him that height he wanted. Well, in Australia, on the bouncier pitches, you need that edge. I liked that mid-wicket boundary that he hit off Hazlewood. That, to me, was not the easiest of shots. A straight drive is a little easier because your stance is like that, but just to open up a little bit and play that—that was all magic. It was a magic shot. On commentary, I kept saying, 'Show it again. Show it again'," said Gavaskar to Star Sports.
Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden further elaborated on the stance changes Kohli made in the second innings, such as lowering his stance and being more upright on a pitch that had variable bounce, where he had been too keen to come on front foot in the first innings where he got out for a low score.
It's a very good point because the opposite can be said also to some one touring to India and has to lower his or her stance. I can say that I definitely have to do that. Being able to be a bit more upright means that your head position has to stay on top of the bounce so it starts to work in your favour.
I said right from the start that I actually liked his move, batting in more line with the ball. I thought that was a good strategy. I think he loves to play like that, and we saw some classic cases where he just eased the ball through mid-wicket. But you can't do that from outside off stump, so getting into the line, I thought, was important.".
The other little adjustment that you mentioned, being a little more upright, so he could stay on top of the bounce, was also really important. If you're getting closer to the ball like he was—another thing, I think, was probably playing the ball later.".
"When he's not in his best form, he goes quite hard, feeling for the ball. He wants to feel the ball on the bat, particularly on the front foot. But he just seemed to give himself a little more time and be a little softer," he said.
Gavaskar also addressed the anxiety amongst Indian fans on seeing Kohli’s lean patch in Tests, and likened it to a phase where tennis legends like Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal would go without winning a title.
"It's like I said in commentary that Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafa Nadal, they are title winners. If they lose in the semi-finals, people say, 'Oh, they're not in form.' Anybody else getting into the semi-finals, you would say, 'Oh, what a wonderful performance'.
"Similarly, with Virat Kohli, because everybody is so used to him scoring so many hundreds quite regularly, when he doesn't score 100, even if he's getting 70-80—which a lot of guys will be very happy to get—people say, 'Look, he's not scoring runs.' And that is the reason why there was that feeling.".
"Again, however, Indian fans-they're greedy fans. They wouldn't like their idol to score 60-70s. They want the icons and idols to make hundreds and that is why there was this little chit-chat of, 'Oh, he hasn't got a hundred since July 2023.' July 2023 is barely about a year ago,," he added.
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