You cannot blame Indian fans for having deja vu. Their team came to a World Cup final without losing a match. They batted first. They got off to a brisk start – 23 in eight balls – before losing three wickets in a blur as Virat Kohli stood guard at one end.

They had seen that story play out seven months ago. It ended in a heartbreak. Kohli, the man at the crease, had been in sublime form during that World Cup. He was not among the runs in this one. It was going to be more difficult for him.

Yet, it was going to be different, for at least three reasons. Since this was a T20, the consolidation did not need to last as long as it did back then. Secondly, India sacrificed a specialist bowler for an all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja, who faced 22 balls and bowled 14 overs during India’s eight-match run at the T20 World Cup. He was not needed fully, but was their insurance whose presence at eight would enable the hitters to take fewer balls to get set.

Thirdly, India did something different this time. Unlike the 2023 final, where the specialist right-hander KL Rahul had stagnated in the middle order, they sent the left-handed all-rounder Axar Patel. Since Axar played his shots early, Kohli could switch to the role of the anchor.

This was not what Kohli has been doing throughout the World Cup. His runs had dried out for a reason – he had been taking risks earlier in the innings. He was playing twice as many aggressive strokes early in his innings than he used to. It was a role he had been assigned, and he had no qualms in adapting to this high-risk, uncharacteristic brand of cricket.

This, however, was different. Unlike the previous seven innings, Kohli had outlasted three batters and was now set to bat with the middle order. Kohli 2.0 had to be stowed away for the day. There were others to assume that role. The familiar Kohli 1.0 needed to be summoned.

Whether the anchor is relevant in T20 can be debated, but that aside, there is little doubt over Kohli being the among the best in that role. As Axar hit four sixes in a 31-ball 47, Kohli took his time. Having hit four fours in his first 13 balls, he hit none in the next 35. After being 21 from 13 balls, he took 48 to bring up his fifty, the slowest of his career.

It was not merely about the scoring rate or the boundaries. Kohli was happy to nudge the ball for singles. Along with four boundaries, his first 15 balls had included eight dot balls. The next 35, only five. This was his comfort zone. This was something he can do even in his sleep.

Two years ago, on a flatter surface, Kohli had made 50 in 40 balls in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final against England as India crawled to a sub-par total. He had been criticised – rightly so – for the pace of his scoring. Here, he was even slower. Even after his final onslaught – a six and a four against each of Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada – he finished on a 59-ball 76. It lasted 19 balls longer than 2022 but yielded only 26 more runs.

Was Kohli’s innings a great one? It is difficult to comment on that even when put in the context of the match. The answers to that may lie in whether India’s 176-7 should be prefixed with an “only” after they were three down inside five overs.

Did Kohli leave the onslaught too late? He did not hit a boundary between the fourth and the 17th overs. He was batting in his comfort zone. He was always in control of the innings, but did India aim too low? Should they have gone for 190 and risked getting bowled out for 160? Was 176 enough, too many, or too little?

The answers to the questions kept changing throughout the South African innings. The eventual responses could have been different had a rampant Quinton de Kock not found the fielder in the deep. Or Heinrich Klaasen not chased a ball far away from his body and snicked it. Or Jasprit Bumrah not produced his characteristic magic. Or Keshav Maharaj not ran the single off Bumrah’s last ball to retain the strike and found Arshdeep Singh difficult to get away. Or Suryakumar Yadav not taken the most astonishing catch seen in a World Cup final for a long time.

If one or more of these had not happened, Kohli’s innings would have been seen in a different perspective. He would have walked into the sunlight in despair, not glory.

There are days when the outcome reduces the process to irrelevance. A World Cup triumph is one of those days.

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