‘He’s not 21 anymore, but he’s always running around like no one else’ – Tom Moody on Virat Kohli’s heroics against Punjab Kings

PBKS vs RCB. (Source -Getty Images)

Former Australia cricketer Tom Moody shared his thoughts on Virat Kohli’s fielding performance against Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium on May 9. Kohli, who played a key role in RCB’s do-or-die match with a glittery 92 off 47, was at his agile best in the outfield as he effected an important run-out to send back Shashank Singh at a stage when the hosts were firmly in the game.

Moody, like everyone witness to Kohli’s brilliant effort, was in awe of how quickly he covered the ground and managed to find the batter short of the mark despite being completely off-balance while darting the throw. Shashank was undone for 37 off 19 and his wicket eventually proved to be the final nail in the coffin as Punjab Kings were wrapped up in the next three overs to lose by 60 runs and crash out of the tournament for the 10th straight year without making it to the playoffs.

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“Virat Kohli’s effort was truly extraordinary. Running in from the deep, throwing himself to the ground, and managing to make the throw from that position is no easy feat. That’s something we’ve definitely taken into consideration,” Moody said on Star Sports Cricket Live.

”He is not just a fielder; he’s also contributed with the bat, scoring 92 runs and spending considerable time out in the middle. Despite the physical exertion, he’s always running around in the field like no one else. In the middle of the innings of that second innings he still managed to display the focus, enthusiasm, fitness, and agility required to execute a run-out like that. It’s quite remarkable, especially considering he’s not the same as the vintage Virat Kohli, but he’s also not 21 anymore; he’s 30 [35]. So, that’s brilliant what he’s done there,” he added.

Moody also analysed Kohli’s performance with the bat as his intent-filled knock helped RCB notch up a massive 241/7 on the board. Kohli smashed seven fours and six sixes and never took the pedal off the accelerator, so much so that he went for an aerial shot even in his 90s, finding Rilee Rossouw off Arshdeep Singh in the cover region to fall eight runs short of a well-deserved century.

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“From what we took from his post match interview, you can see how has learnt how to manage how he prepares for a competition now. He knows he can’t hit as many balls and train as hard as he used to, but he’s still training alright. He’s still training on how to improve on his performances. We talk about the slog sweep, how he’s brought that back out against spin, and hasn’t that been a really effective weapon for him in those middle overs. And when the opposition tries to bring spin in the powerplay, he brings that out and puts them under immediate pressure and that puts them under another area of scoring from the backfoot,” said Moody.

“So, this is some really good insight on how this genius operates. The way he batted tonight, you’d pay the big bucks to watch him every day of the week and it’s great to see him in this type of form. Is it too late for RCB? Well, they still have to keep playing this brand of cricket.”