The striking emotion from Virat Kohli’s celebrations after his first IPL 100 in four seasons was joy. He lifted his arms, helmet in one hand, bat in the other and soaked in the rippling applause. The celebrations offered a window into the player’s mindset —he is enjoying his batting, liberated from the burden of expectations.
It has been a continuation of the form he displayed since his admission of not feeling at ease with himself, a fleeting phase where batting seemed a chore and not a labour of love. The sands of the Emirates hold a special place for several Indian batsmen. It was where Sachin Tendulkar scored two of his most memorable hundreds in ODIs; it was also years later, where his heir-apparent Kohli rediscovered the joy of scoring hundreds. Ever since his drought-breaking century against Afghanistan in Dubai, Kohli has rescaled the heights of batting. A month later, he produced arguably the finest T20 knock by an Indian batsman in T20s, the 82 not out against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, before reeling out three hundreds in four ODI innings. A Test hundred was to follow against Australia in Ahmedabad. And King Kohli was truly back, retracing the outposts of his lost empire.
