Virat Kohli Finds Home Comforts in Adelaide to Rediscover Test Form

Virat Kohli edging English seamers and walking back to the pavilion with a disappointing score to his name was a familiar trope from the English summer, but Kohli left all that behind him with a splendid century in Adelaide earlier today.

It should perhaps come as no surprise that Kohli rediscovered his touch in Test cricket in Australia at the Adelaide Oval.

After a difficult start in the country, he is developing a fine understanding of how to thrive in Australian conditions. Over the course of five Tests and eight ODIs, he has found something of a home from home Down Under.

It was in Adelaide in 2012 that he scored his maiden Test hundred at the 14th time of asking in his eighth Test. Moreover, his performances throughout that tour can be seen as truly marking his arrival as a player of substance on the international scene in both the Test and one-day arenas.

Nagraj Gollapudi summarised the importance of his first Australia tour following a promising World Cup showing in a profile of Kohli for ESPN Cricinfo:

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Then came the tour to Australia later that year, when he truly proved he belonged at the highest levels in both forms of the game. On a tour in which India's senior batsmen struggled throughout, Kohli stood out, scoring India's only Test hundred—a mature, composed innings in Adelaide. And with India almost out of the CB Series, Kohli uncorked his best with an astonishing 86-ball unbeaten 133 to help India chase down 321 in under 40 overs.

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Though he is still in the first phase of what promises to be a long Test career, in the 17 Tests Kohli has played in foreign climes, none of which have been in Asia, his record is a fairly black and white tale of success or failure depending on which hemisphere he finds himself in.

In the northern hemisphere against England and the West Indies, his record has been woeful. Kohli averages 15.2 across three Tests in the Caribbean, and his record in England is even worse over five Tests, where he averages 13.4. As a tourist, he is yet to pass 50 in a Test against either nation after 15 innings.

Against New Zealand, Kohli averaged 71.33 over two Tests earlier this year, boosted by a fine unbeaten hundred in Wellington. He also excelled in South Africa, averaging 68 in the two Test series last December after making 119 and 96 in his two innings at the New Wanderers in Johannesburg.

Country	Matches	Innings	Not Outs	Runs	High Score	Average	100s	50s
In Australia	5	9	0	415	116	46.11	2	1
In England	5	10	0	134	39	13.4	0	0
In New Zealand	2	4	1	214	105*	71.33	1	1
In South Africa	2	4	0	272	119	68	1	1
In West Indies	3	5	0	76	30	15.2	0	0

In Australia, Kohli has played five Tests, with four coming in 2011-12 prior to the Test currently being played, providing a better measure of sustained success in a country in much the same way that his struggles in England over a five Test series is a fair reflection of his failure to cope with conditions there.

After being dismissed cheaply in his first Test on Australian soil at Melbourne for 11 and 0 by Ben Hilfenhaus, and then making only 32 from his two innings in the following Test at Sydney, doubts may have surfaced around his ability to prosper there.

However, as Gollapudi alluded too, he was far from alone in struggling for runs. His more senior middle order colleagues Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman managed just four half centuries between them over the course of 12 combined innings as India slid to two comprehensive defeats.

Kohli adjusted better than anyone to the quick, bouncy track at the WACA in Perth, top-scoring in each innings with 44 from a total of 161 and then 75 from 171 as India crashed to another innings defeat.

At Adelaide, Kohli came of age and stood tall when all others floundered. After Australia compiled a mammoth 604 with double-hundreds from Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, Kohli was last man out as India crumbled to 272 all out.

He had made 116 when then next best effort from an Indian batsman was 35 and walked off to a standing ovation from an impressed home crowd. Almost two years later, Kohli had the Adelaide crowd on their feet again.

Captaining the Test team for the first time in the absence of MS Dhoni, Kohli responded superbly to the responsibility with an excellent innings, pushing on to a ton after watching three of his team-mates fall after making half-centuries for scores of 53, 62 and 73.

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Virat Kohli now the third Indian make a century in debut innings as Test captain after Vijay Hazare (1951) & Sunil Gavaskar (1976) #AusvInd

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 11, 2014"

Kohli appears to relish quicker pitches like those more common in Australia and South Africa, where the ball comes on to the bat rather than those in England where it moves away from it. He seems to thrive against the sort of belligerent fast-bowling dished up by the likes of Dale Steyn and Mitchell Johnson.

This is further evidenced in his one-day record, where his average of 53.28 over the course of eight ODIs in Australia is superior to even his highly impressive career average of 52.61, the fifth highest in the history of ODI cricket, according to ESPN Cricinfo.

Even in the ODI format, where he has truly excelled to become the No. 2 ranked batsman in the world, as per the ICC, his record in England and the West Indies, noted on ESPN Cricinfo, lets him down, further painting a picture of Kohli as a man who favours certain conditions.

In England, he has made a century and two fifties, but his average of 38.54 over 14 matches is meagre by his own lofty standards. In the West Indies, he has also made one hundred and two half-centuries but averages fewer runs over the course of 10 innings with 34.7.

Both the pitches and the bowling that greet him in Australia seem to suit his instinctive, aggressive approach to batting that has been praised by the great Viv Richards, as reported by ESPN Cricinfo:

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I love watching Virat Kohli bat. He looks to me like an individual of my own heart. I love his aggression, and [he has] serious passion that I used to have. He reminds me of myself. He is an individual who doesn't back off from confrontation; someone who can stand his ground under pressure. I love that as you can't teach these instinctive aspects.

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His centuries at Adelaide have not been especially attacking innings, coming at strike rates of 54.46 in 2012 and 62.5 in the current Test, but he still appears more comfortable against out-and-out pace attacks than bowlers who primarily look to swing the ball away from him.

His struggles in England were largely against James Anderson, a supreme exponent of swing in conditions ideally suited to such bowling.

Four times Kohli was dismissed edging Anderson behind, and five of his other six dismissals came against England's seamers. Moeen Ali took 19 wickets with his spin but only claimed Kohli's wicket once.

In the West Indies, it was Fidel Edwards, another bowler skilled at swinging the ball, who had Kohli's number, removing him three times with out-swingers claiming the edge as Kohli failed to pass 30 in his five innings on tour.

For Kohli to fully establish himself as one of the world's best Test batsmen over a long career and to reach the upper echelons of the ICC player rankings currently occupied by the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, AB de Villiers and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, he must find a way of coping with quality swing bowling in conditions that are not ideally suited to his style.

In the meantime, there is perhaps nowhere outside of his native India where Kohli would feel more comfortable captaining India for the first time in a Test than the middle of the Adelaide Oval.

With his increasing appreciation of Australian conditions in the longer and shorter formats and his authoritative handling of the sort of bowling that gives English batsmen nightmares, it will be no surprise to see Kohli plundering many more runs as India's tour of Australia continues.