Virat Kohli Birthday Special: What Makes The Star Indian Batsman a Great Anchor in T20 Cricket

The role of “Anchor” by now, is quite familiar amongst the cricketing audience. A role which is considered pretty important in T20s now. However, there has been a lot of controversies and criticism of this role as well. Sometimes the pace at which an anchor plays puts extra pressure on the team, and there have been suggestions to remove them completely. Amidst them, there is Virat Kohli, who successfully avoided that criticism despite playing a decade of T20 cricket and scoring a lot of runs. Here, we will present five things that helped him to do that successfully: Virat Kohli Celebrates 34th Birthday With Teammates in Australia, BCCI Shares Celebration Video.

1. Pacing the Innings: The first thing that a T20 anchor needs to know is how to pace an innings. In a game where resources are limited, playing defensively beyond a certain point can hurt your team. Virat Kohli, on the other hand, has developed a method where he effectively paces an innings. First, he works on the platform building and consolidation, then he accelerates and finally, at the end, he explodes. That way, he never lets extra pressure build on his teammates.

2. Game against Fast Bowling: One of the toughest challenges in T20 cricket is to score quick runs in the death-over phase of T20s. To do that, a batter needs to have a strong game against a high pace. Virat Kohli has that game against pace, and that is why despite starting slow, he can accelerate very fast and can score at a strike rate similar to finishers like Andre Russell and AB de Villiers. Virat Kohli Birthday Special: Back From a Slump, ‘King Kohli’ Roars Again!

3. Fitness: T20 is a very fast game. If fitness standards are not maintained, a cricketer can be out of fuel very quickly and that affects performance. Virat Kohli, because of his tremendous fitness, can bat for long time with high intensity and doesn’t slow down at all while stealing quick runs.

4. Mindset: The execution of any and every role has to have clarity associated with it. Virat Kohli has a very positive mindset and intent when he is batting, and he is very clear about his methods. He doesn’t doubt himself while taking on the best bowler in the opposition, putting him under pressure.

5. Game Awareness: T20 cricket might be a shorter format, but it is full of actions. It is very much necessary that a player is reading the game well. Virat Kohli picks up cues from bowlers trying a variation or a bluff of field placement very well because of his excellent game awareness. That way, he converts the disadvantages into advantages.

As we can see, there are several factors that make Virat Kohli ‘a great’ among the T20 anchors. He has proved it various times, even in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022. Hopefully, he will continue his stupendous performances for team India and be a legend.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 05, 2022 02:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).