The Week India – July 21, 2019

46 THE WEEK • JULY 21, 2019

WORLD CUP

ICC

2019

knows how to get the big scores.”

Kapil Dev, one of the best bowlers

of his time, said he marvelled at how

Williamson could handle the likes

of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar

Kumar while his openers struggled to

get bat on ball. “He stands on the off

stump, but never gets out LBW,” he

said. “You will never see him missing

the ball and it does not matter how

quick anybody is bowling. He chang-

es the bowlers’ length by standing on

off stump and walking to the middle

stump. That is his strength.”

Kohli had a different role in this

World Cup, especially as Rohit Shar-

ma carried the innings many a time.

He did have a crucial role to play in

the semi-final, but got trapped LBW

to Trent Boult on 1. It was a rare fail-

ure, and one that did not do justice to

his batting in the tournament.

Said former Indian opener Kr-

ishnamachari Srikkanth: “[Kohli] can

play every role for his team, across

every format. He can drop anchor

and let his partner shine if that is

what the team needs. He can also

shift gears if the situation demands

it and keep pushing up the run rate.

This is his true mastery. He can ma-

noeuvre and control a game and pace

himself beautifully.”

Kohli and Williamson first met

at the Under-19 World Cup in

Kuala Lumpur, 11 years ago. In

that semi-final, the Indians led by

a chubby-cheeked Kohli beat the

young Kiwis led by a scrawny, smiling

Williamson. Kohli even picked up

Williamson’s wicket, and India went

on to win the World Cup. The duo

then led parallel journeys as they

graduated into senior cricket.

At the press conference before the

semi-final though, the duo could

barely recollect that face-off. The

impending game weighed on their

minds, but they did laugh at the

memory.

The ace batsmen have nothing

but high praise and respect for each

other’s game. “In 2007, we went to

New Zealand and we were playing an

Under-19 Test match,” Kohli had said

at the pre-game press conference.

“He played a shot off one of our fast

bowlers, who was quick, off the back-

foot. I remember standing in the slips

and telling another guy, ‘I have never

BATTING

INNINGS

@CWC 2019

RUNS

HIGH SCORE

AVERAGE

STRIKE RATE

50s

100s

INNINGS

RUNS

HIGH SCORE

AVERAGE

STRIKE RATE

50s

100s

VIRAT KOHLI KANE WILLIAMSON

228

11,286

183

59.4

93

54

41

141

6,102

148

48.04

82

39

13

82

55.37

94.05

5

0

2

2

443 548

148

91.33

76.32

98