In the novel The Three Musketeers, penned by the famous French author Alexandre Dumas in 1844, courage and teamwork are the hallmarks of the musketeers. They live by the motto: “All for one, One for all.” India’s trio Virat Kohli, Shyeyas Iyer and Mohammed Shami displayed the same qualities as they guided India to a resounding victory over New Zealand in the ICC World Cup semi final.
They had the courage to overcome the pressure of high expectations and they worked like a perfectly drilled team. Each man did the job he was assigned to do with great flair and determination.
Kohli’s maturity is seen in his batting
Kohli’s maturity as a person now reflects in his batting. There was a time when he was considered a hot tempered young man. At the slightest provocation he would lose his cool. But those days are long gone. No amount of misfortune or provocation by rivals can make him lose his focus.
Although, even when Kohli was an impetuous young man, he also had plenty of admirable qualities. In 2014, on Teachers Day, he gifted a Skoda Rapid vehicle to his coach Rajkumar Sharma. The coach who had many times admonished Virat for his lack of emotional control, was himself overwhelmed by this generous gesture of his pupil and could not control his tears.
After the victory at the Wankhede stadium, even the New Zealand captain Kane Williamson praised Kohli. The duo is old rivals. They used to play against each other when they were representing their respective countries in the Under 19 category.
“Playing 50 matches in the ODI format is a commendable achievement. Some would say it is a great career. But today Virat has scored 50 centuries in the ODI format. I cannot find words to describe what an achievement it is, He seems to be getting better as the years are passing. That is something to worry the opposition teams across the world,” said Williamson.
Kohli broke several records
With 50 centuries against his name, Kohli has surpassed the record of his onetime idol Sachin Tendulkar who had scored 49. With 711 runs from this tournament, Kohli also overtook Tendulkar’s mark of 673. Sachin was the first to congratulate Kohli after his feats. According to former captain Saurav Ganguly, Kohli’s feat will remain unequalled for decades hereafter. Among those who witnessed Kohli’s record breaking spree was football’s superstar David Beckham.
Skipper Rohit Sharma had his moment of glory too. He became the first batter to hit 50 sixes in ODI World Cup tournaments. By hitting 28 sixes in this edition of the Cup, Rohit surpassed even that mighty six hitter Chris Gayle of the West Indies whose record was 26.
Holding’s analysis of Shami
As for Mohammed Shami, no praise can be too high for him. Like his good friend Kohli, Shami too seems to be getting better with age. His thunderbolts are unplayable. Three years ago the famous West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding had analysed Shami’s game. According to Holding, the Indian bowler’s strength lay in the fact that he was extremely accurate while swinging the ball in both directions.
“For a fast bowler, pace is important. But along with pace, you must have perfect control and accuracy. In International cricket many promising fast bowlers have faded away because they had no control. Shami is not blindingly fast but he has enough pace. Then he has that superb accuracy. He can land the ball in the right place again and again thereby keeping the batsmen under pressure. If the batters try to score runs against Shami, they get out,” said Holding.
About his own bowling, Shami had once said that his primary objective was to attain mastery over swing. “I try to keep my pace at about 140 kmph but I never try to gain more speed at the cost of accuracy and control. I have always given priority to seam movement and that is my weapon for prising out the batsmen,” he said.
Shreyas Iyer is a prodigiously talented cricketer and his century against New Zealand should provide his confidence a big boost. Like Kohli, Shreyas too has matured immensely. He is now a formidable cricketer in many respects.
In the beginning of this year he had been suffering from continuous back pain and his cricket career seemed to be sliding downwards. But with patience and hard work he has come roaring back to form and full fitness now. It is a good sign for the future of Indian cricket.
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