ICC ODI World Cup 2023: Why Virat Kohli is like a man possessed

Virat Kohli's ODI record so far this year reads: 966 runs in 21 matches at an average of 69.00 with four centuries and five fifties. (Illustration by Suneesh K.)

Lights, camera, Virat Kohli — that pretty much sums up the impact of the superstar cricketer in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup. The tournament, thus far, has been a celebration of his career, and it can culminate into a fitting finale if luck favours the champion from the victorious team of 2011.

Twelve years ago, a 22-year-old Kohli had carried the legendary Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulder during the victory lap. At present, the seasoned Kohli has been batting like Tendulkar from the 2003 edition, who had guided India to the final with 673 runs in 11 matches - it is still a Cup record. The Master Blaster may have whispered the magic trick to his protégé ahead of the 2023 edition in India.

Kohli's 354 runs, including a hundred and three fifties, in five games have been a highlight in Team India's winning streak. The Men in Blue will be keen to maintain the run when they meet England at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday. Plus, Kohli is one century shy of equalling Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI 100s.

Recovery from rough patch

Almost exactly two years ago, Kohli was going through a rough patch. There was a period in 2021 when Kohli was sledging opponents, screaming but not scoring. He decided to step down from the T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup 2021. Weeks later, he lost the ODI captaincy too; the selectors didn't like the idea of two white-ball captains. The red-ball series loss in South Africa saw him give up on Test captaincy in January 2022. As a leader, Kohli was a broken man with no ICC titles, but as a batter, it was the start of something new.

Kohli rebuilt himself smartly to gain the rich form he is in. He ended the century-drought — November 2019 to September 2022 — with a T20I hundred against Afghanistan at the Asia Cup in Dubai. The unbeaten 122 was his maiden ton in the shortest format. Later that year, Kohli scored an ODI hundred against Bangladesh in Chattogram. And he finally exploded in 2023.

This year, Kohli's ODI records read: 966 runs in 21 matches at an average of 69.00 with four centuries and five fifties. Two hundreds came in January against Sri Lanka, one against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, followed by the unbeaten 103 against Bangladesh in the World Cup. Kohli also registered two Test hundreds this year to assure fans that the world is back to normal.

He took his time to settle down after starting afresh as a player under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, and he peaked at the right time.

Records and challenges against England

Kohli has 1,340 runs in 35 matches against England at an average of 43.22. He has three hundreds and nine fifties. However, his last ODI ton against the Englishmen came six years ago in Pune.

England leggie Adil Rashid will be the sole challenge for Kohli, who has been dismissed by the bowler nine times in international cricket. In ODIs, Rashid got the better of King Kohli thrice. The spin wizardry of Rashid doesn't hold Kohli back. It is clear that his intent has always been to score and not see off his quota of overs. Kohli's strike-rate against Rashid reads 93.10 despite 40 dots out of 116 deliveries that the spinner bowled to the Indian star.

Rashid will walk into the India game with confidence, as he has done well in India in the past, with nine wickets in as many games.

Fast bowler Mark Wood hasn't bowled enough to Kohli in ODI cricket and will be gunning for the opportunity to rattle his stumps with his lethal speed.

"I have played against Mark Wood. I think he is a great bowler. He has the skillset to trouble the batsmen, so I would like to test myself against real pace," Kohli said on Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the tournament.

"Adil Rashid is a very underrated bowler, and he has been doing amazingly well for England, a very challenging bowler that I am looking forward to playing against," Kohli added.

The cricket fraternity will keep a close eye on Kohli as every match will take him closer to equalling and breaking Tendulkar's record. In the end, if he ends up as World Cup winner, he, along with Ravichandran Ashwin, will be the only two Indian cricketers with two World Cup trophies.

And looking realistically at the future of ODI cricket, it is debatable if anyone will break both Tendulkar and Kohli's records - with fewer 50-over matches to play all around, the legend of Kohli could remain untouched forever.