Kohli soaks up the spotlight so that his Indias can celebrate and shine

The path Virat Kohli chose in Pune was a dangerous one. He possibly didn't even choose that path but was led down it by KL Rahul. Not the path where he tried to hit sixes to get his 48th hundred even as India were running out of runs to chase. But the one where they started manipulating strike to get him there.

India had plenty of overs and wickets in hand, so there was no risk of losing. Let's also put aside the possible disrespect to the opposition - telling them you are beating them with plenty of time to spare - because there are arguments against that too. It was the attention he was drawing to himself. Telling the whole country, which hangs on to his every word and gesture - that he is so keen to get to No. 50 that he is willing to do something he has never done.

Remember the 2014 T20 World Cup semi-final when MS Dhoni blocked the last ball of the 19th over so that Kohli, who had fashioned the chase, could hit the winning runs? Then you also probably remember Kohli's reaction. He was baffled Dhoni would do something like that. If that man is now manipulating strike for a hundred - and he went on to do that in a much closer game than the one in Pune - he is telling the nation he wants to get this thing done with.

Remember what Sachin Tendulkar went through when he was stuck on 99? These are his words: "Wherever I went, the restaurant, room service, everyone was talking about the 100th hundred. Nobody talked about my 99 hundreds. It became mentally tough for me because nobody talked about my 99 hundreds."

Did Kohli really need that kind of attention in the middle of a World Cup? He perhaps had a split second to decide when he hit a ball into the deep against Bangladesh, and Rahul asked him to stay at his end and go on to get the hundred.

Kohli made the decision, his team-mates backed him - in fact they revelled in it - and not for the first time, he didn't worry about the optics and committed fully to his decision. There he is different to Tendulkar. Kohli's conviction that what he does is right for the team is so absolute it can border on the self-righteous. And looking at his body of work, with good reason.

Kohli never second-guesses himself. If he does, he gets over it before he comes to work. Even though events some might view as inauspicious have happened twice: those narrow misses in Dharamsala and Mumbai. They tend to create a self-perpetuating cycle. The more you miss out on hundreds, the more the focus on them, the more it could affect you.

Hang on. Who hurt this writer? 464 words of gloom when India is enjoying a big party along with one of its biggest icons. Kohli is the last person to be affected negatively by all this. Or narrow misses. And you need such people in a team because not everybody likes the spotlight. You need those who will revel in it. You need those who can handle the scrutiny that comes with the territory.

We don't know if Kohli has done anything specific in his personal time to shut out the noise, but he's been full of joy at the nets and at the grounds. He's been full of joy at the foot-volley games India play to warm up before training. After his team won before the net session at Eden Gardens, Kohli ended by kicking the ball onto Shubman Gill's bum at close range. On a difficult practice pitch that was seaming and bouncing funny, Kohli looked in great touch. Nobody else batted in that net after Kohli. Fitness training, skills training, being mentally happy, he has not missed a step.

On the field, Kohli has conducted crowds like an orchestra. Whenever the song "My Name is Lakhan" plays in the stands, he makes sure he does a little dance, sending fans into a frenzy. That's his little thing. Direct communication. They have now started chanting, "Kohli ko ball do [Give Kohli a bowl]." Rahul Dravid is using Kohli's "wrong-footed inswinging menace" to ward off questions about the lack of a sixth bowler.

The beauty of it is, just like the regular festive season in India, the celebrations are not affecting business. In the form that Kohli is in, every innings is looking like a possible century. He has got his processes and preparations spot on. The team's strategy needs him to play according to the conditions and situation while Rohit Sharma at the top and others in the middle order force the pace. Is there anyone better at doing that?

Kohli batting without the pressure of run-rate is dangerous for the opposition. Which is not to say he has been slow. His 543 runs at a strike rate of 88 have been scored according to the team's plan for the conditions. The pitches on which India have played their eight league games have tended to slow down. The pitch in Kolkata became more difficult than some of the previous ones. Keshav Maharaj pitched outside leg, ripped the ball past Gill's bat, and hit the top of off stump in the 11th over.

Ravindra Jadeja, who later took five wickets, said the pitch had been more difficult to bat on in the afternoon. Not only was it turning, it was slow too. He gave Kohli and Shreyas Iyer all the credit for denying Maharaj any more wickets and still managing to score at a decent rate during their stand of 134 off 158 balls. Rohit of course set up the innings with 40 off 24 balls, but Kohli took it to its fruition, which has been his role in the side.

Twelve years ago, Kohli carried his hero Tendulkar on his shoulders after India won the World Cup, and said it was only fitting they carried him after he had carried India for so long. With 58,000 people singing happy birthday for him, Kohli equalled Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI centuries, a record that looked unbeatable 12 years ago.

The party is not over. The crowds will follow him everywhere. They want both: the World Cup and Kohli's 50th. It won't bother Kohli. It won't bother India. There is too much positivity and festivity around them, and with good reason.