The young and the fearless: Virat Kohli

As VVS Laxman made his way back into the dressing room, Virat Kohli made his way out to bat. It was a beautiful day at Kingston, one of the most beautiful I have ever seen at least. Kohli’s face was full of optimism. You could see it. There was no Sachin Tendulkar. There was no Sourav Ganguly. Although there was Rahul Dravid at the other end, the few fans and officials scattered across the Kensington Oval received the message. It was loud and clear. They were watching the future of Indian cricket. What was more, they were watching it right before their eyes.

Many of the folks in India were glued to their television sets. The local time inched towards midnight. It was a weekday. There was work to do the next day. However, they didn’t care much. They were watching a true ‘Cinderella story’ unfold before them. Work, time, breakfast, codes, etc. All these things didn’t matter. What mattered was Virat Kohli. He took center stage. For the few minutes, he survived at the wicket at least.

Although he was making his much-awaited Test debut, 22-year old Virat Kohli was already a legend as far as many were concerned. He had led his side to the 2008 U19 World Cup and had also lifted the 2011 World Cup in Mumbai. He was a cult hero and was heavily tipped to enthrall Sachin Tendulkar fans for the years to come. That said, it wasn’t really surprising to see all those people keeping their lives on hold to watch Kohli in the all-whites of the Indian Test team.

His first runs came when he flicked Fidel Edwards off his pads into the mid-wicket fence. In spite of being dismissed soon after, Kohli had shown those watching a little preview of his career. ‘The Wall’ in the form of Rahul Dravid stood firm as the Indians coasted to a win at Kingston. Although Kohli didn’t really have the impact he would have liked, the curve of learning would just go up.

He perhaps didn’t realize it at the time, but this experience against the pace of Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor would come in handy at Adelaide in the fall of 2014. MS Dhoni’s injury had seen Virat Kohli take over the reins of captaincy. The death of Phil Hughes was also bearing down the minds of the players as the southpaw had lost his life after being hit on the neck by Sean Abbott. Kohli was hit on the head by Mitchell Johnson. He didn’t flinch. He took blows to the body, yet he didn’t flinch. He was quite clearly the captain of the side already.

MS Dhoni was the skipper of the side, but Virat Kohli had soon become the leader of that side. They began to take a cue from his all-around performance. The way he batted at Adelaide was simply phenomenal. Cover drives, pulls, hooks, smashes, and hoicks were all part of Virat’s Adelaide compilation. Sledging simply got the best out of him. It was perhaps the first time many saw the Aussies clueless. India may have lost the series, but Virat earned the respect of one and all.

He was quite effectively becoming the reincarnation of Sir Viv Richards. For me, and perhaps for many, Viv was a player who brought a meaning to ‘True Grit’. With some chewing gum in his mouth, it was quite clear that he backed himself each time a bowler was in his face.

Although the 27-year old Kohli may not really have or in this case need the swagger, Kohli is an absolute treat to watch. Is he ready for captaincy? Hell yes! Beating the mighty South Africans 3-0 at home is just the beginning of things to come.

However, as far as I am concerned, Test cricket changed for the better as Virat Kohli made his debut on the 20th of June 2011.