Kohli’s anchor-first T20 approach not paying off

There were 18 sixes hammered at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Saturday and nearly 400 runs scored as Delhi Capitals sauntered to a target of 182 with 20 balls to spare. When there's such a run-fest on a small ground, is there really a need for a batting anchor?

Virat Kohli was left to contemplate that after scoring 55 off 46 balls at a strike rate of 119.56 in Royal Challengers Bangalore's seven-wicket defeat. That he didn't hit a six (five 4s) in a game where the ball routinely sailed into the stands was glaring. Every batter hit a six in the game, except Kohli and RCB's Glenn Maxwell, who was out first ball.

Though the ball held up a bit on the surface in the opening phase of the game before some dew took effect, all the others who got a start went at a strike rate in excess of 140. Kohli took a measured approach. His plan, as he said at the halfway stage of the game, was to "bat deep and get those late runs".

But by getting out in the 16th over, he wasn't able to make up for his slow start, which is the inherent risk for top-order batters who set up for a late onslaught. In the first four overs, RCB scored only 23 runs. Kohli faced 18 of those 24 deliveries, scoring 19 runs. That RCB still finished with 51 in the Powerplay was due to skipper Faf du Plessis hitting four fours and a six in the fifth and sixth overs.

While exercising caution against left-arm spinner Axar Patel early on was understandable, at no stage could Kohli exert pressure on the other Delhi bowlers. He was content playing second fiddle to du Plessis initially and then to Mahipal Lomror (54* -- 29b, 6x4, 3x6, SR 186.20) during a 55-run partnership. RCB's brittle middle-order perhaps influenced Kohli's game plan.

"When Virat and I were batting, the game plan was that he will try to play a bit deep and I will look for a boundary or two every over," Lomror said after the game.

In contrast, DC batters attacked from the outset, cruising to 41/0 in four overs and 70/1 at the end of Powerplay. Knowing the target provided them that clarity to attack, but the ease with which they scored even when RCB bowlers had more protection on the boundary was impressive. Phil Salt's 87*, showing the aggression that exemplifies the young generation of England batters, was the highlight of the evening.

Salt's gung-ho approach is also fraught with risk – he has two ducks in five IPL games – but he knows he can deliver a match-winning contribution on his good days.

"I know that if I go out there and put the pressure back on the bowlers, it makes it easier for the next batter to have a good start. That means our batting unit is a lot more likely to win us a game of cricket," the 26-year-old said. "You have to live with the highs and the lows. Hitting half-volleys to cover off the first ball, those are things you have to take on the chin sometimes. But with that style of play, when you do score runs you have a much better chance of winning your team the game."

Kohli's template is far more orthodox. While he has scored six fifties this season at a strike rate of 135.16 – considerably faster than the past three editions when his strike rate hovered below 120 – an innings like the one on Saturday tends to underline his shortcomings as a T20 batter. It is apparent especially when his team bats first. "I thought 160 would be a good score," Kohli had said during the mid-game interval on Saturday.

When he has a target in front, it can be a different ball game. As he showed with his masterly 82* against Pakistan in Melbourne in last year's T20 World Cup, he still retains the ability to produce shots that leave your jaw on the floor. But that luxury of knowing exactly when to accelerate isn't available when a team is batting first. In the semi-final of the T20 World Cup, Kohli scored 50 off 40 balls before Hardik Pandya's sparkling 33-ball 63 took India to 168/6. England made a mockery of the target by reaching it in 16 overs with all 10 wickets intact, triggering criticism over a lack of spark in India's top three of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Kohli.

Kohli hasn't been picked for any of India's nine T20Is since that crushing loss in Adelaide last year. Sharma and Rahul too haven't featured since then, an indication perhaps that the selectors are moving on with an eye on the 2024 T20I World Cup in the Caribbean and USA.