Asia Cup: Virat Kohli, Mohammad Amir's unforgettable performances

Mirpur First the Mohammad Amir Show then the Virat Kohli Show and somewhere in between we also had one of the most anticipated cricket matches between India and Pakistan On Saturday these two young men showed that sometimes individual performances are so breathtaking that they can transcend the game irrespective of how important the game was perceived to beAlso ReadMohammad Amir was at fault no one should cry Waqar YounisPakistans pacer Mohammad Amir celebrates Indiarsquos Rohit Sharmarsquos wicket during the Asia Cup T20 cricket match in Mirpur on SaturdaySince its a batsmans game and the fact that India went on to win its only fair to start this article by giving due credit to the man who made 83 look like a defendable score and brought everyone who watched the game to the edge of their seatsAlso Read MS Dhoni unhappy with umpires earpieceEven before the Asia Cup started there was a lot of anticipation around Amirs return to the fold He exited international cricket as a very young and promising player and while those impressions were still fresh in our memories we werent oblivious to the fact that staying away from top flight cricket for five years can deflate hopes and at times even the talentAlso ReadKohli Knock against Pakistan was learning curve for meFive years is a long time in international cricket and if you havent even played domestic cricket in that period your comeback becomes that much tougher How do you keep yourself motivated You might spend countless hours in the gym but if you havent bowled to quality batsmen in match situations how do you upgrade or even maintain your skilllevelIndias Virat Kohli plays a cover drive during the Asia Cup T20 cricket match against Pakistan at the ShereBangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday PicsAFPBefore the Asia Cup Amir did play in New Zealand and in the Pakistan Super League but none of us had watched how good he still was because both events were not televised in India and therefore there was skepticism around his return But he dispelled that notion in the first over itself for he started with two wickettaking deliveriesmdashfirst the impeccable yorker that hit Rohit Sharma on the toe and the second that shaped in after pitching to find Rohit plumb in frontFrom the first ball of his spell to the last ball that he bowled we watched in awe His 24 ballspell lasted no more than 35 minutes but it left us with a lifetime of memories to cherish I was too young to admire the quality of Wasim Akrams bowling when he was at the peak of his powers but Im pretty sure that it wouldnt have been too different from what we witnessed from Amir in Mirpur The exhibition of swing while maintaining highspeeds was sensationalQuality cricketIt needed something equally sensational to counter that quality and that came from Virat Kohli Its not that Amir didnt trouble him but the fact that he couldnt dismiss him showed that it was a contest amongst equals Amir asked tough questions but Kohli had the answers He did alter his game to suit the demands of the situation and weathered the stormKohli played close to the body didnt try anything fancy and more importantly understood that counterpunching Amir wasnt an option on the day Aggression isnt always about hitting fours and sixes its also about being decisive in your movement and defending with conviction Once Amirs spell was done Kohli swiftly changed gears and showed that there arent many better chasers than himThe toughest thing to do in a pressure situation is to do what comes naturally to you and Kohli did just that He played percentage cricket but the quality of skillset is such that even while doing that he could score at runaball against a good bowling unitThere was a time when Indian batting revolved around Tendulkar and people used to say in every tough situation that Sachin Hai Na Sachin is still therehelliptheres hope Kohli has assumed a similar staturemdashso stay calm and trust in Kohli