Reuters/Sydney
By his own lofty standards, Virat Kohli (pictured above) has had a modest World Cup so far. But his Indian teammates all think the elegant stroke-maker will live up to his reputation as a big-match player when it matters.
And few games matter more than Thursday’s semi-final against Australia. For Kohli, it’s a golden opportunity to get back amongst the runs.
“I don’t think he has batted badly. When he has got an opportunity he has scored runs,” India’s World Cup captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
“It’s not that he has scored a century every time he has gone out to bat. But everybody is relating his performance with the Test series and expecting a hundred in every innings from him.”
Kohli’s lean run at the World Cup has been puzzling, partly because of his great record record in One Day Internationals and his great form this summer.
He has scored 22 ODIs, averages almost 52 from 157 matches in the format and is among India’s best batmen.
He replaced Dhoni as test captain for India’s last match against Australia in Sydney in January and scored four hundreds in the series and averaged over 86.
But his form in ODI has fallen away. He made a century in India’s opening World Cup match against Pakistan but hasn’t made a fifty since.
Known equally for his silken touch with the bat and a penchant for run-ins with opposition players, Kohli also found himself embroiled in controversy after swearing at a journalist over a story about his personal life.
The batting mainstay was censured by the Indian board for his ugly outburst against the travelling Indian journalist in Perth and advised to maintain his cool.
After his 107 against Pakistan in Adelaide, he has scored 46, 33 not out, 33, 44 not out, 38 and 3 and Dhoni backed him for a big one soon.
“I don’t think there has been any poor shot selection. He is a dominant batsman who likes playing his shots when he goes in to bat,” Dhoni said.
“It’s quite difficult but at the same time I feel it is important to keep focussing on the process. It’s just around the corner and big players always score in big games.”
Meanwhile, former India bowling coach Joe Dawes doubts whether the defending champions can replicate the devastating impact Pakistan speedster Wahab Riaz had when they play Australia on Thursday.
Dawes, who worked as India's coach between February 2012 and October 2014, also said Dhoni's men will be confronted with the psychological baggage of their winless Australian summer campaign against the World Cup co-hosts.
Riaz, 29, is still the talk of the World Cup despite Pakistan being on their way home, owing to a memorable spell in Adelaide.
The left-armer's spell removed opener David Warner and skipper Michael Clarke and had Shane Watson behaving like a cat on a hot tin roof on a responsive Adelaide Oval pitch. Riaz had the home team under pressure during their 214-run chase.
But Australia eventually managed to weather the storm and won by six wickets.
The Indians will note the vulnerability of the Australian batsmen in their quarter-final. But while their pace trio of Umesh Yadav, Mohamed Shami and Mohit Sharma have improved a lot, they don't have a Riaz clone in their line-up, said Dawes.
"No doubt, they'll try that. (But) around the wicket is going to be a bit harder than just having a left-hander there," he said. "They will have watched that and will give it a go, and Umesh has definitely got the pace to do it, but he's not an overly tall man so that sort of changes the trajectory and the bounce."
The left-armers, Dawes said, "are proving to be quite difficult throughout the whole tournament."
Dawes feels that even though Duncan Fletcher is a clever coach, India don't have a left-arm pacer to repeat Pakistan's Riaz havoc.
"They'll be doing their homework and will give it a crack. Fletch (Fletcher) is a pretty astute coach. He'll be watching all of these things and he'll look to try and bring that in somewhere and give it a whirl," he said.
"But the left-hander is a big advantage and that's where the Indians don't have anyone with real pace, or any left-hand bowlers here at the moment."
Shami has 17 wickets at an average of 13 in the World Cup to be third behind left-armers Trent Boult (New Zealand) and Mitchell Starc (Australia) on the wickets tally.
The right-arm seamer has been skipper Dhoni's key man. After four months in the country, his success is an indication that India have finally found their range.
But after being unable to register a win against Australia throughout a Test series and ODI tri-series campaign, there are undeniable mental hurdles to overcome, according to Dawes.
"During the Test series they really struggled for consistency. They bowled some good balls, then really let the pressure off. It looks like maybe adapting to the conditions and getting their lengths right they've really improved their consistency so they're building pressure now," the Queenslander added.
Dawes said that skipper Dhoni, 33, is the man behind India's turnaround but his team faces a big challenge against Australia.
"Dhoni leads them well in one-day cricket and they've sort of got on a roll. I still think under pressure they'll be tested. I'm not sure they've been tested a great deal under pressure yet."
According to Dawes, "That's going to be the real challenge in a semi-final against Australia, where there is that little bit of no doubt psychological damage over the summer where they've been hit around a bit."
"I think they have got the tools to hurt any side, it's just whether or not they can be consistent enough to put the ball in the right area on the day, which they have and haven't done throughout the summer," Dawes added.
