Virat Kohli and the masterful innings that refused to be tragic

India loves itself a tragic hero. Bollywood had a "tragedy king" before it had its first "superstar". The said superstar's most accomplished role was that of a tragic hero dying of cancer. Ghazal is a vast art form that spreads out from its literal meaning "to talk to the beloved", but for a long time in India it just meant sad songs of unrequited love. Some of the ghazal singers used to be as popular as rockstars of the west. India didn't experience Beatlemania as much as they did Ghazalmania.

Even today, Bollywood's most popular singer specialises in sad songs. Ironically, the said singer is Virat Kohli's favourite. Kohli is no tragic hero. Indian cricket has had its share. Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli's hero, was for long a lone warrior, the boy on the burning deck. One of his most iconic photos was from the Boxing Day Test of 1999, walking back after being dismissed, accepting applause, a flock of seagulls in the background, which to the photographer himself was symbolic of his lone battle

MS Dhoni, Kohli's next hero, didn't mind playing the misunderstood victim. His announcement to retire from international cricket played to a quintessential Bollywood sad song. Kohli left Test cricket with "I Did It My Way". And he is still doing it his way in ODIs.

Part of the reason why Kohli will never be tragic hero is his personality and competitiveness. He is just a happy person at heart. He is either cheerful or angry, never helpless. Arguably no player gets involved in as many altercations or bromances as him.

Part of the reason also is that Kohli has been part of much stronger teams than Tendulkar ever was. That has had some part to play in his great chasing record of only four out of his 28 chasing hundreds before Indore coming in defeats. The great chase-master that he might be, he doesn't have those single-handed miracle chases batting with the tail that roll off the tongue. Of course, he is so good he doesn't let them become hopeless.

Kohli has a game good enough to go at a run a ball even when preserving wickets or rebuilding. He also has generally batted with more accomplished ODI batters than Tendulkar did, which means he doesn't have to pull the trigger early. Even in the most hopeless position Kohli had won India a chase, from 63 for 4 against England in Pune, he had Kedar Jadhav, who outshone him. That line-up had Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja at Nos. 7 and 8.

This Indore ODI is the closest Kohli was going to come to experiencing what Tendulkar used to. Don't be mistaken, this top five is as good as any, but Nitish Kumar Reddy and Jadeja at Nos 6 and 7 show the lack of batting depth that India haven't had to play with in a long time. Then there was a chase of 338 in a series-decider.

New Zealand threatening to win an ODI series in India for the first time after having achieved the same in Tests just a season ago. A wicket lost early, and Kohli walks out a beautiful mix of risk-free accumulator of yore and the new freer version of himself. He looks to get off the mark with a dab to third, a shot he has recently used much less of, but also hits a six off the seventh ball he faces. This is the third time he has hit a six in his first 20 balls in his last six innings. In the two years before that, he did so only once, that too off a free hit.

India keep losing wickets, though, which means Kohli is forced to rein himself in. Even before 13 overs are done, he finds himself batting with Reddy, the worst-case scenario for India. New Zealand can't get him out but isolate him beautifully. He is able to face only 75 out of the first 180 balls bowled when he is at the wicket, and 100 out of 240.

The batting is masterful, perhaps the best version of Kohli. With 352 runs in three matches, Daryl Mitchell is the deserving Player of the Series, but Kohli has looked even less likely to get out, scoring only slightly slower. He also shepherds Reddy and Harshit Rana to their maiden half-centuries. He is locked in, but is also calm and forgiving. At least twice these youngsters turn down runs when it is Kohli's call, but they are able to come out smiling. Should have tried that eight years ago.

For a while during the partnership with Rana, the intoxicating mix of Kohli scampering twos, Kohli hitting sixes, Kohli cheering Rana's sixes, the crowd chanting Kohli-Kohli has New Zealand under pressure. When he and Rana are done taking apart Kyle Jamieson, India need 68 in seven overs. The asking rate has dropped under 10 after eight overs.

It looks doable now, but then India lose Rana and Mohammed Siraj on successive balls. Now it is Kohli or nothing. Now he starts farming the strike. He is keeping India in. Consecutive fours off Kristian Clarke bring it down to 46 off 28. He has tried to hit 22 boundaries so far. He has been in control of each of those attempts, converting 11 of them into boundaries. If he can find a way to play 20 of the remaining balls, he can finally have that one missing miracle innings.

And then he plays his first false shot to a boundary attempt. Only his eighth overall in 108 balls. He is caught at long-off. This is the deepest he has gone into a chase without winning it. He doesn't hang around or slow-walk like a tragic hero although this is just the kind of innings that can have edits set to his one of his favourite singer's songs. Provided there are no copyright strikes of course.

Pretty soon, though, Kohli is out joking with team-mates and opponents. He is laughing to himself looking at his phone. He has just experienced something he hadn't in a career of nearly 20 years: a defeat after playing so beautifully and scratching and clawing and eventually being left stranded, but tragedy it isn't.