Virat Kohli seems to channel his 2012 self towards New Zealand in ‘acquainted’ Chinnaswamy Stadium

M Chinnaswamy Stadiums means a lot to Virat Kohli. The batting maestro has played 106 matches across international cricket and the IPL in Bengaluru and has practiced countless times in the nets. Kohli’s special connection with the ground started in 2008. But it was four years later that he enjoyed one of his best moments. In 2012, Kohli scored his first-ever home Test hundred at the venue, that too against New Zealand.

How quick time flies

A lot has changed since then. Including Kohli, only four of the 22 players that featured in the game continue to play internationally. Ravichandran Ashwin being his teammate from that match to now, Kane Williamson and Tim Southee remain his opponents, and then opener Gautam Gambhir is now his head coach. The thing that has remained is Kohli’s hunger. He was looking to score big and win games then and will aim to do so in the India vs New Zealand 1st Test as well.

1st Test century at home

Although it’s been over a decade, Kohli will remain that match fondly. He’d top-scored in the match with a great 103 in the first innings and helped India gain parity. But his 51* while chasing 262 was the highlight. It remains the highest chased total at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. He’d averaged 34.31 before that match, and many had doubted his place due to slim returns. From that day onwards, we saw a different Kohli. A Kohli who showed that he was ready to take over from Sachin Tendulkar.

Targetting India vs Australia Tests

His record wasn’t great before facing New Zealand in Bengaluru in 2012, and 12 years later, he’s facing something similar. Kohli has scored 157 runs at 31.4 this year, and against Bangladesh on what were fairly good batting pitches, he’s managed to get 99 runs in 4 innings. Granted, it’s a small sample size, but the returns aren’t great.

Not much time is left before the big India vs Australia series, and now would be the right time to roll back the years. A hundred followed by a fifty would be something Kohli and Team India will accept gleefully.