India, Jan. 19 -- Not too long ago, when Virat Kohli was searching for runs, advice began pouring in from all kinds of places. On air, Sunil Gavaskar brushed aside one such suggestion with bluntness. The idea that Kohli should alter his backlift and instead, angle it towards third man, was "nonsense", he said.

Kohli had built his legend batting straight, trusting the full face of the bat, and certainly, his technique needed no late-career reinvention. And now with almost every outing in ODIs, he is showing why he was right to stick to his guns.

The 37-year-old right-hander's 124 off 108 balls in the third ODI against New Zealand came in a losing cause, but it carried the unmistakable stamp of clarity. The bat still came down straight. T...