Virat Kohli is the cricketer of the 21st century for India: Michael Atherton

Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli in phenomenal form with the bat right through the year and that has reflected on his captaincy and the overall performance of the team as well. Only one team he was due to do well against was England. Virat failed miserably on the tour to England where the team was handed over a 4-0 defeat. Now that they are playing at home and the kind of form he is in the 28-year-old has already amassed over 400 runs in the first three Tests.

Former English skipper Michael Atherton who is a part of the commentary team for the series and has seen him bat the way he is batting and is also impressed by Kohli and in his column for “The Australian” newspaper, described Kohli as “the most influential figure”. In his column today Atherton wrote, “…the most influential figure in the game is Virat Kohli, India’s captain and leading contender for the best allround batsman in the world today,”

“He is certainly the most in-form, as England have found to their cost, given that he has held together India’s batting in the first three Tests (he has scored 405 runs at 101.25),” he added.  One of the most appreciated England also said Kohli was as “ubiquitous” as Sachin Tendulkar during his time. “It has been fascinating to watch Kohli close up and get a sense of the cricketer who is driving Indian cricket – and, therefore, to a large extent, the game itself – forward.

“He is ubiquitous, just as Sachin Tendulkar was a generation ago, but with the kind of reach through social media that did not exist when Tendulkar was in his prime,” Atherton said.

He also went on to term Virat as the cricketer of the century. “In Kohli, India have a cricketer for the 21st century: fit, driven, obsessive, social media savvy, living the reality of the collusion of cricket and celebrity (he is dating a Bolly­wood actress) and at home in three formats. A generation ago, they wanted to be like Tendulkar. Not any more,” he concluded.