How to solve a problem like Virat Kohli has been a frequently posed question during England’s white-ball tour of India. On the eve of the first of three T20 internationals Kohli was asked how he might expect to cope with England’s latest gambit against the Indian top order, the left-arm pace of Tymal Mills, who is expected to take the new white ball at Green Park stadium in Kanpur on Thursday night.
The answer came with a wry, slightly incredulous smile. “Well, I have faced 90mph before,” Kohli pointed out. “I can maybe comment further on him after I’ve played him. But 90mph is not a problem at all. I have faced many 90mph bowlers before.” It was a fairly gentle pulling of rank from the world’s best T20 batsman.
Kohli could have been more bullish. It is easy to get a little lost among the general superlatives of the Kohli persona in India, but when it comes to international T20 cricket he really is out on his own, a Bradman of this infant form. After 45 matches Kohli averages 57.13, more than 18 runs ahead of the next best, Australia’s Aaron Finch, with a strike rate of 135 and more half-centuries – 16 – than any other batsman.
It seems unlikely this statistical freakery is a result of underexposure to extreme left-arm pace. The last time Kohli faced Mitchell Johnson in ODIs, for example, in the bowler’s furiously moustachioed pomp of 2013, Johnson went round the park and Kohli scored 115 not out off 66 balls and an unbeaten 100 off 52 balls at Nagpur and Jaipur.
Not that England are short of white-knuckle vim and brio themselves. The Green Park groundsman has already promised a run feast in the first match.
Watching Jason Roy club the ball over the short straight boundaries during range-hitting practice on Wednesday afternoon it was easy to fear for the bowling on both sides as this tour reaches its quickfire endgame. England are expected to retain Sam Billings at the top of the order, with the familiar power-packed middle order below and some potentially interesting changes in the bowling attack. Liam Plunkett is favourite to keep his place instead of Jake Ball. Chris Jordan will be a welcome addition to the death-bowling and fielding stocks. Liam Dawson could play as a second spinner alongside Moeen Ali.
The bowling has been the main source of concern for Eoin Morgan all winter, and it is here that England see an opportunity for these three games to feed into the wider Champions Trophy preparations.
Morgan said: “Going from the series we’ve just played where bowlers have found it difficult honing your specific skills, T20 cricket can be relevant. There might be periods in games where we just go to yorkers because that might work on a particular ground. So improving your skills to be able to do that might help the guys in the long run.”
He was fairly dismissive of the suggestion England might need to develop more T20 specialists in future (“We are beyond that”), pointing to the synergy between the two white-ball formats. He was also a little light, beyond the obvious appeal of winning, on the motivations of the current series. “There’s always been a question over where the priority of T20 international cricket lies,” Morgan said. “To be honest, it only becomes a priority probably a year and a half or a year out from a T20 World Cup.”
In this case England’s captain was batting away a question about the overnight Big Bash spat between Kevin Pietersen and Darren Lehmann, which seems to have its roots in the tension between Cricket Australia and the needs of the franchises. But he has a point about the slightly disjointed nature of international T20 cricket.
Assessing form, progress and standing before a series such as this often seems slightly pointless outside the immediate focus a tournament brings. For all their recent gains, England are as up-and-down as everyone else in elite cricket’s oddest, least-focused form, with five wins in their last 10 completed games. Are they any good at it?
The evidence of the World T20 and recent 50-over form suggests a distinct upward curve. But even with Ravi Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin rested India will still start favourites to take a third series win of the winter.
“We want to play expressive cricket,” Kohli promised. “We need to go out there and show our true potential and be explosive like we are in the IPL.”
The Indian Premier League auction, which is scheduled for 4 February, will loom at the edges from here. Kohli was polite about the level of talent in the England team but warned limited availability might dull interest from IPL franchises, an issue that really affects only Morgan.
For the first time here England’s captain suggested there might be some meaningful interaction between the coming series and the chance of England players attracting an IPL deal.
Morgan described the next week as a “massive opportunity” for England players to push themselves up the franchise pecking order.
For the hosts, Parvez Rasool is an intriguing squad selection, the first player from the remote Kashmir Valley to play for India. Attention will also focus on the 19-year-old prodigy Rishabh Pant, who has hit 53 sixes in 10 first-class games, and who may get a game as a batsman even if MS Dhoni keeps the gloves.
