India’s brave new face

Rising up to both his feet and the challenge,Kohli powered on. The score was 19/1 then in the sixth over of the chase,Kohli was on four and India were still 215 runs away from their target of 234 — the first win in this tri-series and also the first since June 2011 in all away ODIs. The hit was just a preview of the sufferings that lay ahead.

A lesser man would have walked off the field (new rules do not allow runners) with a bout of cramps as severe as Kohli’s in the 32nd over. India had reached the relative safety of 150/3 and Kohli,batting on 60,had more than just done his bit. But he stayed on,swivelled on his cramping leg and pulled Lasith Malinga’s bouncer next ball. And as the stroke was saved near the ropes,Kohli limped the 44-yards to take India two runs closer to victory.

Just when the dehydration started to spread to the muscles on Kohli’s left leg,Suresh Raina and skipper MS Dhoni were dismissed in consecutive overs to horrendous skiers. With India five down,the situation once again demanded courage. And Kohli had it in abundance. With Ravindra Jadeja pushing him for quick singles,Kohli hobbled his next eight runs hard before smashing his first six,in the 36th over — the introduction of the batting powerplay.

But off the last ball of that very over with the field in,Kohli dashed off on a suicidal single. Seconds after the stumps he had protected all evening long were dislodged,Kohli lay writhing in pain at the bowler’s end for a few minutes. A dive from his cramping body couldn’t get him to the safety of the crease,but in terms of his overall effort,Kohli’s 94-ball 77 stood out as special. Jadeja and Ashwin combined to produce a 53-run partnership for the seventh-wicket which sealed the game in India’s favour.

Smart catch

Kohli wasn’t named Man of the Match,but he was the livewire on which India warmed up to this series against the Lankans on Wednesday. If not for his ever-alert presence at point,Sri Lanka would have ended up scoring a lot more than 233. For Tillakaratne Dilshan was building the perfect platform for a late assault.

With plenty of flicks through the leg side,the Lankan opener had raced onto 48. But he made the mistake of cutting Jadeja through the offside,and a low diving Kohli pouch put an end to the crispness in the Lankan innings. Although Dinesh Chandimal stroked his way to 64,Mahela Jayawardene would have probably not have expected such a stale show when he won the toss.

Chasing 234,India got off to a flying start thanks to Virender Sehwag’s wallops through the off-side,but the team was soon struggling when he upper-cut himself back to the dressing room and allowed a young Kohli to face the wrath of Prasad’s crotch-crushing viciousness.

During the course of his innings,Kohli watched the middle-order throw their wickets away in a heap. But in just four years of international cricket,he had seen the same situation unfold several times. So through it all,the 23-year old took it upon himself to do what Tendulkar had through the 90s — stand,even if alone,in the face of adversity.