The signs were there in Adelaide – not with the bat, but on the field. When Virat Kohli completed the catch to dismiss Travis Head, he could not control his laughter over a joke that he possibly shared with Harshit Rana.
For an entire legion of fans who were heartbroken about Kohli’s back-to-back ducks and worried after he made that hand gesture to the fans in Adelaide, this was a sight to behold. “Be this way,” said the internet, rallying behind their ‘King’. A video clip of Kohli shouting for a second run even before he completed the first started swirling on social media. “He has lost that hunger”, they said. Others were reminded of that famous line from Al Pacino in Scarface. “The eyes, Chico. They never lie”. Indeed, they don’t.
Fortunately, the same fans had reasons to rejoice when they noticed the Kohli of old returning onto the field. Kohli was in action the entire time after Australia captain Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to bat, but it wasn’t until he took a screamer to dismiss Matthew Short that he really shot into the spotlight.
Positioned at short leg, the ball came to Kohli at a lightning speed – rocketing off the bat of Short – and had he been even a split second late, Short would have ridden his luck even further, following the two lifelines he received in the previous game at Adelaide. But an alert Kohli was able to grab it, even as the physics forced him to lose his balance. Kohli himself was surprised at the rate at which the ball was coming to him, shaking his head. But the catch was taken and Kohli was back in his element.
Watch the catch below:
Virat Kohli was suddenly everywhere
That wasn’t it. For the next two overs, the ball kept following Kohli, and the former skipper was up to the task. He dove around, showed energy on the field, and laughed more than he usually does now. This was the Kohli of old, who was a livewire on the field, dictated terms, and set the fielding standards. Even Ravi Shastri, who had the best seat in the house when Kohli made it a habit, was electric inside the commentary box. “That’s more like it. This is more like Virat Kohli. Good to see the body language of not just his, but the entire team.”