Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell are antithetical in the way they play their cricket. One uses the bat as a brush, sketching silken strokes on the green canvas, the other uses it like the hammer of Thor, breaking through barriers with crushing power.
But despite the contrasts in their approach to the game, there is something that unites the two. No, it’s not because both are 35-year-olds and are teammates in the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. It’s the fact that both are master finishers who win their team games from difficult — sometimes almost impossible — situations. They are the ones who add twists to scripts which otherwise slip into being mundane.
Kohli’s milestone 49th ODI hundred the other day at the Eden did not come while chasing, but think about the 95 against New Zealand at Dharamsala, or the 85 against Australia in Chennai — both were second innings efforts.
Against New Zealand, the openers had given India a decent start while chasing 274 and for Kohli, it was only about carrying on with the momentum keeping the vaunted Black Caps attack at bay. Kohli can do that left-handed. But against Australia, it was a different challenge in which the chase, though of just 200, needed a surgeon’s precision after India were reduced to 3/2 in the second over. Like a blotting paper, Kohli absorbed all the pressure and kept chipping at the target with KL Rahul for company.
Cut to Tuesday and Maxwell did everything that Kohli didn’t and still got his team the full points. With Australia losing more than half their side with not many runs on the board, Maxwell panicked, or so it seemed, as he had one close shave after another. But once he outgrew that early tension, Maxwell played an innings of a lifetime and gave the ones who witnessed it — at the ground or on screen — an experience that was “staggering, absolutely mind-blowing,” as commentator Ian Smith described it.
Maxwell’s aggregate while batting second in ODIs will not make your jaw drop. He has scored 1561 runs from 53 innings at an average of 38.07. Kohli looks like a colossus in comparison, with 7794 runs from 152 innings at an average of 65.49. But though Maxwell can’t match the Indian great in his weight of runs, he outruns Kohli by a proverbial mile in terms of strike rate. While batting second, Maxwell strikes at 122.23 to Kohli’s 93.64.
But while highlighting those numbers, one doesn’t intend to draw parallel lines to differentiate the two and say who is better, rather the effort is to connect the two in a straight line to emphasise that though their methods are different, they both have mastered the art of finishing like few have managed in history. Yes, there have been some who have etched their name in that category, but a Michael Bevan did not have Kohli’s charisma and a Mahendra Singh Dhoni, despite all his stunning strokeplay while finishing games, perhaps did not have Maxwell’s madness in him.
For the cricketers of tomorrow, Kohli and Maxwell offer two different sets of skills to learn. While Kohli, not a compulsive six-hitter, personifies hard work as he steals those ones and twos untiringly while chasing down targets, Maxwell has shown how you can do it even if you are rendered immobile to run the singles. The examples both have set might produce a future finisher who would be a hybrid of the two. The one-day game
will need such characters to stay relevant.
Speaking about one-day cricket, Kohli and Maxwell are playing a crucial role in the bigger picture in its struggle for survival. They are the limbs on which 50-over cricket is making a desperate attempt to stand steady even while the ground beneath it is increasingly shifting towards the more groovy T20 format.
The common complaint about the ongoing ODI World Cup has been that it is yawningly one-sided and that it lacks the big moments that provide a grand tournament with a magnetic pull. But that was till a few days back, before Kohli and Maxwell decided to step in and shake things up. First, it was Kohli, whose record-equalling 49th ODI hundred had the world bowing in reverence; then came Maxwell, who like a mythical warrior waged a battle on one leg against mountainous odds and won it too.
If you have enjoyed them in their act, you must also agree with the fact that such masterpieces are only possible in ODI cricket.
It is only in one-dayers that a Kohli or a Maxwell can express their full potential. While Tests may offer tougher tests, they will not always give them a scope to do things they want to because red-ball
cricket encompasses a great many factors. A T20, on the other hand, is like a 1BHK apartment with 22 people jostling for space, trying to make their presence meaningful. But ODIs are different. It allows you the cerebral liberty of the five-day game even while pampering you with the opportunities to go slambang like T20s. It gifts you a Kohli and a Maxwell.
CUP HEROES DOWN UNDER
A limping Glenn Maxwell’s 201 not out at the Wankhede on Tuesday will go down as one of the best innings in the World Cup. Here’s a look at Australia’s other scintillating performances in the showpiece event over the editions:
■ 1975: Gary Gilmour, 6/14 vs Eng at Leeds (semi-final), best bowling in that edition
The left-arm pacer didn’t get a match in the early stages but his patience was rewarded when he was picked for the semi-final against England. On a green and damp wicket, he demolished England for 93. Australia were reduced to 39/6 but Gilmour made a run-aball 28 to book Australia’s berth in the final.
■ 1979: Alan Hurst, 5/21 vs Canada in Birmingham, best bowling in that edition
The right-arm quick produced a scintillating spell to dismiss Canada for 105 in 33.2 overs. Australia then chased down the target in 26 overs.
■ 1983: Ken MacLeay, 6/39 vs India in Nottingham, 2nd best bowling in that edition
The medium pacer knocked out the Indian batters as they crashed to a 162-run loss. Kapil Dev top scored with 40 but Australia completely outclassed them after scoring 320/9.
■ 1987: Craig McDermott, 5/44 vs Pak at Lahore (semi-final), best bowling that edition
The pacer powered Australia to within a win of their maiden World Cup crown when he shocked Pakistan in the semi-final. Australia made 267/8 and McDermott then worked his magic, as Pakistan crumbled to be all out for 249 in the penultimate over.
■ 1992: David Boon, 100 vs WI at Melbourne
On a difficult MCG wicket, Boon and Tom Moody set up a 100-run opening stand but none of the other batters could capitalise on the start. Boon’s century came off 147 balls. West Indies’ chase of 217 was a disaster with only Brian Lara among runs.
■ 1996: Damien Fleming, 5/36 vs Ind at Wankhede
A close match where the Australia pacer excelled on a slow Wankhede wicket. Mark Waugh scored 126 and dismissed the well-set Tendulkar for 90. India were bowled out for 242 with Fleming returning his best figures against India.
■ 1999: Steve Waugh, 120 not out vs SA at Leeds
With no margin for error and chasing 272, Waugh played one of the finest innings in ODI cricket. He reached his century off 91 balls, and with support from Michael Bevan and Tom Moody, the 5-wicket victory was clinched with two balls to spare.
■ 2003: Andrew Symonds, 143 not out vs Pak at Johannesburg & Andrew Bichel, 7/20 v Eng at Port Elizabeth
Australia unearthed a new hero and got their title defence off to a winning start at The Wanderers. Andrew Symonds lifted Australia out of trouble from 86/4 to reach 310/8. Pakistan never really managed to be in the chase. In Port Elizabeth, Bichel produced one of the most devastating spells to skittle out England for 204. In a thrilling chase, Australia won by 2 wickets with 2 balls remaining.
■ 2007: Adam Gilchrist, 149 vs SL at Bridgetown (final)
Aided by small boundaries, a flat deck and a squash ball nestled inside his left glove, Gilchrist’s 149 remains the highest individual score in a final. Australia won by the D/L method but Lanka had given up the chase in the end.
■ 2011: Ricky Ponting, 104 vs Ind in Ahmedabad, quarter-final
The captain scored 104 off 118 to set up a decent total of 260 against India in the second quarter-final. Except for Brad Haddin, none of the others failed to counter the attack. But Yuvraj Singh’s late effort helped India end the Aussies’ winning streak.
■ 2015: Mitchell Starc, 6/28 vs NZ, Auckland
In a low-scoring match, the left-arm pacer produced a devastating spell which brought Australia close to victory but Kane Williamson’s unbeaten 45 helped the hosts pull off a one-wicket victory.
■ 2019: Mitchell Starc, 5/26 vs NZ at Lord’s
In what was a tough World Cup for Australia, Starc’s spell helped them dismiss New Zealand for 157 after being set a target of 244. The Aussies survived the loss of early wickets and a Trent Boult hat-trick for a 86-run win.
STATS: MOHANDAS MENON
TEXT: OUR BUREAU
