Ask any Indian cricket fan who the batting mainstay of the current Indian team is and the answer more often than not is likely to be Virat Kohli. It's not an emotional selection, there's logic behind it. After all, Kohli has been prolific in ODIs over the last 2 years. Since January 1 2013, Kohli has smashed 2346 runs in 59 ODIs, with 8 hundreds, at an average of 52.13.
It's safe to say that if Kohli clicks, India will do well in the World Cup. Zaheer Khan, who was part of India's 2011 World Cup triumph has said, "Rohit and Virat's form will be crucial to India's World Cup chances." The Man of the Match of the 1983 World Cup final, Mohinder Amarnath feels, "Virat is the key from India's point of view."
The confidence in Virat's batting abilities is not surprising. The only problem is, Kohli is not clicking.
The 26-year-old was the leading run-getter for India in the Tests vs Australia, with 4 centuries, but the change from the Test whites to coloured clothing hasn't been a pleasant one for a man, who Sir Vivian Richards feels is already an ODI batting legend.
In four outings in the tri-series vs Australia and England, Kohli managed to score just 24 runs. In the two warm-up matches, Kohli scored a total of 23 runs, with a 5 run knock vs minnows Afghanistan. With every failure, the alarm bells are getting louder. The team though is not seeing this dip in form as a cause of concern, at least not in public. Suresh Raina has said, "He is a great match-winner. He will be set to go before the main round."
India's campaign begins with a clash against arch rivals Pakistan. A high pressure match, where the team will need its big guns to fire. That Kohli is a tried and tested match winner is no secret. That he can bounce back even after a prolonged bad patch is something we have seen in the past. Experts are backing him to be India's main man in this World Cup.
Gary Kirsten, who coached India to the 2011 World Cup title has said, "India have a very strong batting line-up but undoubtedly Kohli will be the one to stand tall amongst his peers." The big question though is how soon can India's next captain bounce back?
There is a school of thought that the team management's decision to push Kohli down to Number 4 if the team gets off to a bad start, is what is affecting his form. In the recently concluded tri-series, Kohli came in at No. 4 thrice in four outings. Former India player and NDTV World Cup expert VVS Laxman doesn't agree with this experiment and is of the view that Kohli should not be moved from the No.3 position.
Amarnath minced no words when he was asked where Kohli should bat saying, "A man in form should bat high in the batting order. He is aggressive and ready to take the challenge. He should bat at number three."
The fans' expectations are sky high. It wasn't surprising that Kohli was the only Indian player to make it to the People's XI list ahead of the World Cup. Does the fans' choice also echo what India's batting has become off-late? Rohit can be unstoppable on his day, Dhoni and Raina can finish off matches in great style. Rahane can be consistent. But, is the Indian team too dependent on their most consistent performer? Amarnath has warned against an attitude like that saying, "Definitely Kohli is the key, but that doesn't mean you are going to win the World Cup depending only on him. Everybody has to contribute."
In the 2011 edition of the World Cup, which India won, a 22 year old Kohli scored 282 runs in 9 matches, with a top score of 100 not out. It was a good showing, but the likes of Sachin, Gambhir, Sehwag and Yuvraj were ahead of him on the run-getters' list. In the 4 years since that triumph, a lot has changed. None of those big names are part of the team and Kohli has gone from talented youngster to batting mainstay. The conditions this time are much more challenging. Can the man who hates backing down fight back on the biggest stage of them all?