ICC ODI World Cup 2023: The Reasons Behind Virat Kohli's Adoration of Chaos

 ICC ODI World Cup 2023: The Reasons Behind Virat Kohli's Adoration of Chaos

No one can stop King Kohli. He is accomplishing goals and pursuing his desire to win the World Cup twice.

With 21 matches played so far this year, Virat Kohli has amassed 966 runs at an average of 69.00, four hundreds, and five fifties in his ODI record. (Artwork by Suneesh K.)

Lights, camera, Virat Kohli: that is essentially how the superstar cricket player is making an impression on the current ICC Cricket World Cup. So far, the competition has been a celebration of his career; if fortune continues to favor the winner from the winning squad from 2011, it might conclude in a worthy climax.

On the victory lap twelve years before, a 22-year-old Kohli had carried the renowned Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulder. The seasoned Kohli has been made batting like the 2003 edition's Tendulkar, who led India to the championship with 673 runs in 11 games—still a Cup record. Before the 2023 edition in India, the Master Blaster could have whispered the magic technique to his protégé.

A highlight of Team India's winning run has been Kohli's 354 runs, including three hundreds in five games. When the Men in Blue play England on Sunday at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, they will be eager to continue the run. Furthermore, Kohli needs one more century to tie Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI hundreds.

Getting over a difficult period

Two years ago, to the day, Kohli was going through a difficult time. In 2021, Kohli was taunting opponents and yelling, but he was not scoring at the time. After the T20 World Cup 2021, he made the decision to resign as the T20I captain. A few weeks thereafter, he also lost the ODI captaincy because to the selectors' disapproval of having two leaders for the white ball. He resigned as Test captain in January 2022 after the defeat in the red-ball series in South Africa. It was the beginning of something fresh for Kohli as a batter, but as a leader, he was a broken man with no ICC trophies.

To get into his current wealthy condition, Kohli cleverly rebuilt himself. With a T20I century against Afghanistan at the Asia Cup in Dubai, he put an end to the century-long drought that lasted from November 2019 to September 2022. His first ton in the shortest format was an undefeated 122. Kohli recorded an ODI hundred in Chattogram later that year against Bangladesh. And in 2023, he finally went off.

Kohli's ODI stats for this season are as follows: 966 runs at an average of 69.00 in 21 matches, four hundreds, and five fifties. In January, there were two hundreds against Sri Lanka, one in the Asia Cup against Pakistan, and an undefeated 103 against Bangladesh in the World Cup. To reassure supporters that everything is returning to normal, Kohli also scored two hundreds in Test matches this year.

Under Rohit Sharma's leadership, he made a new start as a player and took his time to settle down before reaching his best.

Records and objections directed at England

In 35 games versus England, Kohli has amassed 1,340 runs at an average of 43.22. Three hundred and nine fifty is his score. But he scored a century in an ODI against the English in Pune six years before.

The only person who can stop Kohli, who has been bowled out nine times in international cricket, is England leggie Adil Rashid. Three times in ODIs, Rashid defeated King Kohli. Kohli is not hindered by Rashid's skill with spin. It's obvious that his goal has always been to score runs rather than complete his allotted number of overs. Despite Rashid bowling 40 dots in 116 deliveries to the Indian great, Kohli's strike-rate against the spinner is 93.10.

With nine wickets in as many games in India, Rashid has experience playing there and will enter the match with confidence.

Fast bowler Mark Wood will be vying for the chance to rattle Kohli's stumps with his deadly pace since he hasn't bowled to him enough in ODI cricket.

"I faced up against Mark Wood in a game. I believe that he bowls very well. "I would like to test myself against real pace because he has the skillset to trouble the batsmen," Kohli said on Star Sports, the tournament's official broadcaster.

"Adil Rashid is an extremely neglected bowler, and he has been doing outstanding work for England, a very challenging bowler that I enjoy looking forward to playing against," Kohli said.

The cricket community will be closely monitoring Kohli since each game he plays will bring him one step closer to matching and surpassing Tendulkar's record. If he wins the World Cup, he and Ravichandran Ashwin would be the only two Indian cricket players to have won two titles.

With fewer 50-over contests remaining overall, it seems unlikely that anybody will surpass both Tendulkar and Kohli's records in the future of ODI cricket. As a result, Kohli's legacy may endure indefinitely.