It was an important game last night and what looked like a sticky end for India, turned out to be an ice skating rink for Virat Kohli, eventually. It was match winning innings on Kohli’s part, almost a routine drill for the Indian vice-captain now, and amidst all the celebrations, critics have found something to worry about. After Dhoni’s statement at the post-match press meet that the top order batsmen must buckle up, critics have begun claiming that the Indian cricket team is getting dangerously dependent on Virat Kohli – a reminiscent of the 90s when Tendulkar was the only saving grace on almost every occasion. Agreed, the performance hasn’t been balanced among the batting line-up, it’d still be an over-analysis to conclude that Indian cricket is becoming a one-man show. Here’s why: It takes two to tango in between the 22 yards Although, it does hold true that most of the damages against the Aussies were made by Virat in yesterday’s match, but the two crucial partnerships played a key role here. First, it was Yuvraj Singh – a man who has been the butt of ridicule lately – whose thankless 21 runs and a major support to Kohli on the other side of the strike was a key factor that slowly took the match away from the Kangaroos.

And then, there’s always MS Dhoni….

Then comes in the skipper who, with his lightning 18 runs of 10 balls accompanied Virat to an easy victory. With Pandya, a reliable all-rounder, still waiting at the dug-outs, it only showed that Kohli had all the support he needed to emerge a hero in yesterday’s match.

It’s not the same as the 90s situation

It was a time when every opponent had to pick up one wicket – Tendulkar’s, to seal the deal against India. However, that’s not the case anymore as the Indian batting order doesn’t collapse with the dismissal of Virat. In the recent tour of Australia earlier this year, India beat the hosts 3-0 in the twenty over matches with hardly any help from Virat Kohli.

It was a crucial series win for the Indians right before the beginning of the Twenty20 world series and an overseas victory against a worthy opponent as Australia clearly re-established the former world champions as one of the top favorites for the world cup.