Virat Kohli's Fiery Promise: “Isko to itna maaronga ab”

(Mitchell Johnson’s bouncer that hit Virat Kohli on the head)

The 2014 Border Gavaskar Trophy will always be a series that has been highly rated by all the cricket fans because of several reasons. Virat Kohli’s first assignment as the Test Captain, Steve Smith’s superb form, Mitchell Johnson’s feud with Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni’s last test series, and many more which took place during those 2 months of cricket. However, the one thing that will always remain fresh in the minds of the fans is how Virat Kohli tackled the challenge from Mitchell Johnson who was at the peak of his career at that time. Moreover, it was a series where Virat was guiding a young team in the absence of MS Dhoni and the whole world was eager to see how this youngster would come against all the challenges.

Why the 2014 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Mattered to Virat Kohli?

Before the 2014 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, there was so much going on in the career of Virat Kohli and the Indian cricket team. Virat Kohli was coming after losing the Asia Cup and was having a poor run in the Test series against England where he managed to hit just 134 runs from the 10 innings played and had an average of 13.40. But his performance in the T20 World Cup 2014 allowed him to get his confidence back as he was the Player of the Tournament with 319 runs in 6 innings while maintaining a strike rate of 129.15.

However, his performances in the Test Format were not up to the mark as with a poor series against England, the bowlers identified that Virat Kohli has struggled against swinging deliveries and hence they got the weak point of his batting. The fans were looking to see a new face in the place of Virat Kohli but with the backing of MS Dhoni, he was included in the squad and was even made the captain of the side when MS Dhoni was injured.

(James Anderson celebrates after dismissing Virat Kohli in the 2014 England-India Test series)

“It was just another two months in my life, nothing more than that, I don't know why still that England phase is being spoken about. I don't live in the yesterday, I don't think anyone does. It's all about looking forward to tomorrow. If you keep sulking in the past, there's no way you're going to move on in life and that's something I believe in.”

Just before the 2014 tour, Virat Kohli even answered that the England 2014 tour was just a bad dream for him and now it’s the past. Currently, with the absence of MS Dhoni, he is now looking to just give the Australian team a fight rather than looking at how he has performed in the past against England, South Africa, or other countries.

How did Mitchell Johnson rile up Virat Kohli?

After coming from a poor run in the previous Test matches, Virat Kohli prepared hard for the 2014 Border-Gavaskar Trophy by practising hours in the nets and sweating in the gym. Moreover, he said that he visualized hitting the bowlers of the Australian team hard and like he was scoring centuries every day to make it come true. Virat Kohli had a big task in front of him and with the crowd mocking him, this wasn't going to be easy.

In the first test match between India and Australia which was played in Adelaide, the Indian team had to wait for 2 days to get a chance to bat as in the first innings, the centuries from David Warner, Michael Clarke and Steve Smith gave the Australian team a big total in just the first innings of the match. After waiting for almost 2 days, Virat Kohli finally got a chance to bat in the match and the first ball that he faced, he was hit by Mitchell Johnson on the head.

(Mitchell Johnson and Virat Kohli during the India vs Australia Test Series)

When Virat Kohli was hit on the head, the whole playing XI of the Australian team surrounded him to see whether he was fine or not. Moreover, it was a hard time for Kohli as for the last 60 days, he was visualizing hitting the best bowlers all over the park and now on the first ball itself, he has seen a completely rough patch. To this, Virat Kohli said:

"The first match came. First ball of the tour. He hit me on the head here. First ball. And at that time, at first, it was disbelief. I was like, man. Literally for 60 days, I have been visualising that I will play like this. I will play like this. It was like a complete change of plans. The first ball hit my head, and it was a heavy blow. And my vision started dropping in the left eye; swelling came here; I didn't know. So, two balls were left for lunch, and I played. So, what happened at lunch? And again, these are the things that I feel grateful for. Now I can't say that I thought during lunch that I would do this. There were two options: fight or flight. So, naturally, my reaction at lunch was, How did he hit me on the head? Yeah. How did he hit me on the head? How did he hit me on the head? I was like, How is this possible? I thought the series mein isko main itna maarunga naa isko (I would hit him this much in this series). And that's exactly what I did."

It was Kohli’s natural instinct when he convinced himself that it’s just the first ball of the tour and he has the ability to go big now. In the whole tour, Virat Kohli managed to hit 692 runs in 8 innings while having an average of 86.50 and managing 4 hundreds to his name. Furthermore, the rivalry between Mitchell Johnson and Virat Kohli saw a big matchup as both players were constantly engaged in heated-up battles. However, it was the Australian team and Steve Smith who finally got the results in their favour as they won the series 2-0.