Virat Kohli, an accumulator with the perfect blueprint to run chases

When one looks closely at Virat Kohli's numbers in One-Day Internationals, one gets a sense that he is perhaps the best in business at the moment and someone destined to finish high up in the list of the best batsman to have graced the game. When he walked back to the Indian dressing room on Wednesday, shaking his head but raising his bat to the cheering crowd at Fatullah, he had scored yet another century in India's successful run chase and did that as the skipper.

To put things in perspective, Kohli has equalled Brian Lara in the number of ODI tons (19) and has taken a little more than one-third the number of games to do so. He is the fastest to reach 19 hundreds, taking 55 innings fewer than the previous best by Chris Gayle. Also, only seven batsmen have scored more tons than Kohli's current tally.

Kohli has come a long way from being an Under-19 World Cup-winning skipper to becoming the accumulator in the Indian top-order. That he has essayed his role in the ODI side to perfection lies in the fact that he was second in the list of fastest to 4,000 ODI runs and is now the joint-fastest with West Indian great Viv Richards to 5,000 ODI runs (114 innings).

Virat Kolhi in run chases

In run chases, Kohli has slammed 13 centuries (out of 19) and 12 of these have resulted in victories for India. These numbers are only second best to Sachin Tendulkar, who has scored 17 tons in run chases, of which India have won on 14 occasions.

Playing in the pivotal role of the No. 3 batsman in ODIs, Kohli has shouldered a lot of responsibilities while chasing totals. Already in his career, he has displayed an uncanny ability to adjust himself to different situations without shedding his aggressive intent. Kohli comes across as someone who is always ready to take the bull by the horns but has matured over time and proved that he can curb his natural instincts and play according to a situation. In that sense, Kohli has been India's horse for multiple courses.

At Hobart in 2012, when India were faced by a situation where they were chasing 321 against Sri Lanka and needed to get it in 40 overs to earn a bonus point to reach the final of the tri-series (also involving Australia), Kohli walked out and made a complete mockery of a massive target as India won in the 37th over. En route to his 133 of 86 deliveries, Kohli tormented the death-overs specialist Lasith Malinga, scoring 24 runs in an over and leaving him to finish with the worst economy rate in an ODI match (one for 96 in 7.4 overs at an economy rate of 12.52).

Just four months later, Kohli played a calmer knock of 128 from 119 deliveries against the same opposition in Colombo. Chasing 251, India lost wickets at regular intervals and needed Kohli to hang in and build a partnership, which he did with Suresh Raina, producing 146 runs for the fifth wicket. There was aggression but not before he completely got his eye in and was settled well enough to pierce the smallest gaps on the field. While his innings included 12 fours and a six, it also had 46 singles (out of the 76 singles taken by India in total), proving that his game was a healthy mixture of brain and brawn.

In 2013, Kohli did the unthinkable again, albeit on conditions far more conducive for batting. At Jaipur, against Geroge Bailey's Australia, India were chasing 360, a target that had the ability to haunt an India side in the past. On that evening in 2013, however, the Indians broke a couple of records. Rohit Sharma and Shikar Dhawan gave India the perfect start, blazing away from the word go. When Kohli walked out, India still needed 184 runs to get from 143 balls. What followed was mayhem as Kohli went on a six-hitting rampage. With eight fours and seven sixes, Kohli slammed the fastest century by an Indian and finished on 100 not out of 52 balls as India raced away to a win with 39 balls to spare. The result spoke of India's sheer dominance as it was the first instance when a total in excess of 300 was chased down with nine wickets in hand.

Come back to the game against Bangladesh on Wednesday and one can see clear application on Kohli's part. It was a wicket where the ball was showing variable bounce, something that the likes of Dhawan and Sharma struggled to come to terms with. It was down to Kohli's (136 from 122 balls) application skills that steered India to a victory.

Kohli's ability to weigh the situation well, maintain confidence and positive intent from start to finish irrespective of situations and asking rates and to play some breathtaking shots places him miles ahead of some of his teammates. Be it in Fatullah or in Hobart, Kohli has not shown an iota of panic or tentativeness in his approach and played with a clutter-free mind, a key to success for many of the best batsmen round the world.

Kohli's inch-perfect approach makes one wonder if he has in his possession, a secret blueprint to run chases. Whether or not he does, he will hope to keep the form going and make an eventful debut as captain in a major tournament, the Asia Cup, by leading his side to title triumph.