Melbourne: A birthday cake for reaching 34 was cut in front of his teammates before heading for the net session. And the fuss around the man of the hour, Virat Kohli, is not surprising.
However, amid all the euphoria, former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting's gift demands a special mention. "When he was not getting runs, I had requested India's national selectors not to sit down with Virat. I never lost faith in Kohli's abilities with the bat even when he was going through that prolonged form slump because champions always tend to find a way to achieve success. I told them to give him some time."
Ponting also revealed that he has not seen a similar batting display like Virat's 82-run innings against Pakistan in T20.
After India's net session, Virat said to members of the media who invited him for the cake cutting: "It's been so long. You never took the initiative to invite me like this and set the stage for cake cutting. Anyway, I feel great today." Many more cakes waiting to be cut though and it seems Kohli is going to have a long session of cake cutting.
The run drought for him was pretty long. Cricket experts witnessed the signs of return when Kohli broke the jinx after 1,021 days and managed to score 122 runs from 61 balls against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in September in the UAE.
Kohli has been in supreme form with 220 runs in four matches and being the leading run-scorer at the ICC T20 World Cup here with an average of 220. He played an astonishing knock of 82 not out against Pakistan in India's four-wicket win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23. Since making a comeback into the side following a month-long break from cricket, he is back to his old self, scoring runs aplenty and playing a key role in almost every bilateral series and the T20 World Cup, indicating his confidence is back. Important to note that he has been dismissed only once.
So, Ponting's observations highlight — never to drop a major athlete suddenly and secondly, T20 cricket, though marked for youngsters, is an ideal platform for veterans.
With Ponting's blessings, are we looking at Kohli as Man of the Series then?