Kohli Versus Root.
The similarities are striking. Both of them the primary batsmen of their team of the last few years - especially in tests and in ODIs. Both of them in the select league of batsmen who average more than 50 in both formats. Both Captains of their team in the longest format and both have too much depending on them while batting.
And then the dissimilarities.
One in the golden form of his life, impossible to dislodge. Scoring heavy runs in ALL conditions - Sri Lanka, India, England, West Indies and Australia.
The other seems to have lost his voracious appetite for runs. When, a few years back a century was the norm, in the last two years, it is not even the exception. His dry run with the bat has continued for so long that even his die hard fans are questioning themselves.
One is calm and composed. You hardly hear anything controversial from him. The other- everything that he has said becomes controversial.
One has less than a million followers in Twitter and Instagram. The other has 40 Mn plus followers on Twitter and 170 + Million followers on Instagram.
While one has reached ascendancy in terms of batting, the other has taken his country to absolute ascendancy in the longest format - with wins in Australia, West Indies, Sri Lanka, England and at home, the aura of invincibility is so strong, teams might be fearing touring his country especially with him at the helm.
The other’s captaincy has been so poor that one keeps getting shocked. So many matches that were to be won were drawn and so many that were looking like draws were lost. There is an eerie predictability to the team’s performance under him - the team’s batting will collapse, the fielding wither and the bowlers will despair.
For one, the bat does the talking. For the other, the wins do the barking.
As a connoisseur you would want one to bat like the other, get some runs on the board, play like the player of yore. As someone invested in your country’s performance, you would want the other to show more tactical nous, show more aggression, put some wins on the board.
Kohli and Root - similar yet so dissimilar.
Today, we know Kohli would give an arm and a leg to play like Root and Root would surrender his form to make England win.
As an Indian, I hope Kohli’s wish comes true. As a cricket fan, pray Root’s team comes through.
