It was Virat’s first tour down under with the senior team. And at Perth in January 2012 the Australians, as they often do, had managed to get under Virat’s skin. Not able to handle the heckling, Kohli showed the middle finger to a particularly noisy section of the crowd after they called him a ‘wanker’. The anger (mis)management was a feature of early Kohli, and there were concerns if it would get in the way of a full blossoming of his talent.
Much like Tendulkar in 1989, he was finding it hard. Sachin felt like a fish out of water in Pakistan in 1989 in the first two matches of his debut series. For Kohli it was similar in Australia. He wasn’t able to get the measure of the pace and bounce and ahead of the Perth Test was feeling a sense of serious self doubt.
The WACA changed it all. A gritty 75 against a very good Australian pace battery and Kohli felt he belonged. Much like Tendulkar’s 114 at Perth in 1992, it was this 75 that gave Virat’s Test career the push that it needed. In the next Test he went one better in Adelaide. A hundred and now there was no looking back.
Soon a new maturity and a new composure seemed to cloak the aggressive on-field Virat persona. In November 2013, after playing his 200th Test, Sachin sat in the Wankhede dressing room, all by himself, contemplating the moment.
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Here’s what happened in his own words: “As I sat in the dressing room, Virat walked up to me. I could see tears in his eyes as he approached me and held out a gift for me. It was evidently something very close to his heart. He said his dad had given it to him (a family heirloom for good luck) and he’d always wondered who he would pass it on to. I was speechless that he’d considered me worthy of such a rare honour. As we hugged, a lump had started to form in my throat, and I asked Virat to leave before I burst into tears.”
The baton had passed. The protégé was ready and so was Indian Test cricket. But then it was captaincy that brought the best out of Virat. Never one to hold back, he instilled a new steel in the Indian team. His famous words, “lets give them hell for the 60 overs” at Lords defined his leadership. It was new India speaking out and making a statement.
This extreme self-assurance, mistaken for arrogance by some, is also key to understanding the Virat Kohli phenomenon. That and the 40 Test wins as skipper, and what Tendulkar describes as his “peripheral vision”.
“He can read the game brilliantly and can anticipate the run of play well in advance. That’s what makes him stand out” Sachin had once said to me.
In one of the many interviews that I have done with Virat Kohli, one comment that he made about Test cricket will forever stay with me. “I want to play my cricket with the very same intensity all day. For example if there is a stroke played in the 88th over of the day and I know I can save it and save 1 run for my team, I’d do that. I will run and dive and give it my all to save that run. That’s Test cricket and that’s how I want to play it”, he had said.
Needless to say, he will go down as one of the greatest to have played for India in whites. Perhaps only second to Tendulkar. A supreme athlete committed to a cause, Indian and world Test cricket, we have to say, was in a better space with Virat around.
His teammate Shardul Thakur perhaps paid him the perfect tribute when he said, “Virat is synonymous with Test cricket.”
Thakur who has played and won many a match under Virat went on to say, “I always looked at him as a captain and a leader, especially in test cricket. Few memories that I created with him on away tours are unforgettable. He was synonymous with Test cricket and literally carried the format on his shoulders. Today the format lost it’s best devotee and each one of us, players, fans and anyone associated will miss him as a red ball player. Again, wish him the very best but will always savour memories of playing under him and winning many memorable matches with him.”
- Boria Majumdar is an eminent sports historian, journalist, and writer. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Revsportz.
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