The discourse around Virat Kohli the T20 batter for much of IPL 2023, or perhaps a little longer, has been about his intent in the powerplay or the lack of it. Much of this has stemmed from poor returns of the Royal Challengers Bangalore batters apart from himself, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell.
This safety-first approach has worked wonders as much as it has also backfired. But it is one that Kohli has backed himself to execute successfully more often than not.
Against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday evening, Kohli decided he'd had enough; he wasn't going to bat the way he'd been batting all along. There was a purpose that perhaps stemmed from RCB having one eye on net run rate and a mindset of outright domination from get-go. Of the kind that made you wonder whether Kohli had been angered by something or someone; and there have been a few occasions this IPL where he has been testy.
The first ball of the innings laid down the marker. Bhuvneshwer Kumar's late swing was met with one of the most purposeful forward strides and head right over the ball as he creamed one through the covers. Kohli was up and running.
It was a tall chase, even if not one that needed him to go all out. Kohli, though, did just that. Off the second ball, he anticipated Bhuvneshwar shortening his length and stood tall to slap it over backward point. He was one up on Bhuvneshwar, whom he has played with for over a decade. He knew what was coming and reacted instinctively. No holds barred.
It was Abhishek Sharma's turn next. Kohli vs spin in the powerplay has rarely set pulses racing: his strike rate against left-arm orthodox was 116. Abhishek has several variations - a traditional off break, a back-of-the-hand delivery, and a seam-up that swerves in. Here, he fired one down leg, perhaps anticipating Kohli would give him the charge. But Kohli went outside leg to get underneath the length and shovelled it back over the top. Two balls later, he backed away again to slap a length ball back past the bowler.
It wasn't until his stand-and-deliver boundary through extra cover off Kartik Tyagi - one that made such sweet connection that you wondered if he'd hit one that clean this season - that Kohli got into top gear. Batters often tell you there's one particular stroke that helps them flick a switch. This, seemingly, was that stroke that pumped Kohli up. The 17 runs he made off his first 10 balls were the second most he's hit in this phase this season.
But it wasn't just about the big hits. The moment Mayank Dagar came on and slowed it down nicely to extract square turn, Kohli switched gears and treaded with caution. The powerplay - RCB were 64 for 0 after six - gave him leeway to do so, too. With Dagar exercising control, you wondered if Sunrisers had erred by not picking another frontline spinner in Mayank Markande. They had handed a debut to seamer Nitish Reddy, and he was under the pump straightaway.
One moment, Kohli was batting calmly, andthe next he was allowing adrenaline to kick in and his wrists and forearm power to take over. Kohli simply short-arm jabbed a perfectly acceptable length delivery into the body for a 103-metre six and stood there following the trajectory of the ball, holding the pose for the camera. That was just one of several eye-catching shots he played. The no-look sweep to a full, in-drifter from Dagar was full swag. It left du Plessis astounded.
Kohli said later that batting with du Plessis brought him as much pleasure as batting with AB de Villiers. Kohli and du Plessis are different in the shots they play or areas they can access. Du Plessis is bottom-handed, while Kohli is the epitome of elegance that he mixes with a more-than-capable power game.
"I think it's the tattoos," Kohli said with a laugh when asked about his success with du Plessis. The two have racked up the most runs by an opening pair in a single IPL season. "We call each other the ink boys. We almost have 900 runs together this season. It's been amazing to bat with him. Another guy, very similar to how I used to feel when AB and me batted together.
"There was just an understanding of where the game is going and what needs to be done. We pump each other, we read the conditions, we give each other feedback for how we can play certain bowlers. Having an experienced guy who's captained at the international level, he's handled troops as well, it's just been a beautiful transition for us coming together for RCB at the top and making an impact, which is so important."
For much of the innings, Kohli and du Plessis were neck-and-neck with their score. And then suddenly Kohli gave himself a power boost against Bhuvneshwar. If you thought he couldn't have topped the first two shots to open the innings, you were wrong.
A regal drive on the up, a chip over cover and mid-off that nearly carried all the way, a one-handed hit over his head off a low full-toss and a ferocious cut - all in Bhuvneshwar's third over - shaved nearly 10% off their target. From 55 off 36, it was down to 37 off 30. Bhuvneshwar's final over, the 18th, was the one in which Kohli reached his hundred, off 62 balls.
"Yeah, quite special knock considering where we're placed in the points table and the magnitude of the game," Kohli said. "I thought Hyderabad got a really good score. If you saw, the ball was gripping in between overs as well, so it's quite special, knowing that we wanted a good start, solid start.
"We didn't expect to be 172 without loss, but that's how well Faf and me have played this season. Faf's been on a different level, but, you know, I've had a quiet couple of games in the last few games. I just felt like the way I was hitting the ball in the nets, it wasn't quite transitioning into the game in the last two or three games, so I wanted to make an impact, and my intent from ball one was to go after the bowlers. It's something that I've done through the season - there was a little bit of a dip, but I wanted to pick my game up at the right time, so considering all those factors I'm just happy that it all came together nicely."