"MS Dhoni and BCCI saw the future of Indian test cricket in that young lad” | KING KOHLI

The romance between Virat Kohli and test cricket can never be outmoded. This vanquisher vanished the SENA oppositions as John Cena of world cricket.

It was back in 2011. India had stirred the cricket fraternity by one more championship. It awed the oppositions with the limitless achievements in the limited formats. But all these summits and the guaranteed endless entertainment named IPL overshadowed the real QUEEN of all the formats, ‘TEST CRICKET’. Then rose a KING named KOHLI, who not only rescued the queen, but aided her own throne once again. Their bonding remains a beautiful love story. 

It was not a very easy voyage. Indian test cricket was struggling hard in a quagmire for its existence in the 7th place in the ICC test rankings table with the worst winning percentage of just 8% overseas, from the year 2011 – 2014. On the other side, our red giant was also struggling hard to hold his position in red-ball cricket. His debut match against West Indies was a disaster and from there on he had to fight to get a place in the team. He was even batting at the 6th position, due to the presence of senior players like Dravid, Laxman in the team. 

But he was not a person who gave up easily. He toiled, trained hard and grappled quietly in silence, for his love for this format. His capability to play red-ball cricket was suspected and questioned. In 2012, Sanjay Manjrekar, who is famous for degrading players, gave an underestimating comment regarding Kohli’s chances in the test format. He said, “Give Virat one more test match, just to be sure he does not belong here!”. The truth is Kohli won’t belong there but that entire place belongs to him and it was his own Kingdom.

Not all wars have to end up with word exchange, some have to be settled in the fields too. It took only a couple of weeks for Kohli to make Manjrekar eat his words. He made it possible by cultivating his tremendous maiden test century in Adelaide soil, against Australia. Not just his century, a new breed of Indian test cricket was sowed on that day. It was the moment when Indian test cricket was reborn and rejuvenated and that rescuer from there on never let the team down.

He had started playing a different version of the gentleman’s game. He was not like his earlier ancestors of this sport. He was one of his kind. He could not bear the sledging and digest those insults and venomous words. He was known for giving it back a manifold. The mighty Australians hated him to the core for his guts for standing equal to them and playing the game in his ways, on and off the field and he loved doing it every single time against them. Their game plans to defeat him and conquer his territory failed miserably and this fire-bird drilling their brains for getting rid of him and even his shadow terrified them. 

Indian test cricket started revolving around the world in merry go round with Kohli at one of its foci as a batsman but when Dhoni and BCCI saw the future of Indian test cricket in that young lad, Kohli had also to take another focus of that revolving path too as a captain. The captainship can be a thorn bed for the others, its weight over the head may suppress one’s self. But Kohli was a born leader, it was like a CANNON in disguise as captain. The proof for it was available very much from his first match as the captain.

It was in Adelaide again, where he had hit his maiden century, three years before. He played outstandingly and scripted centuries, one in each innings. Michael Clarke had to try all his eight bowling options to conquer him but he remained undefeated. It was once said that bouncers can frighten Kohli but not anymore. Australians’ short balls were treated well by him with hooks and pulls. India lost that game but that started the golden phase of Indian test cricket. In the press meet, Kohli said, “We played the kind of cricket, we wanted to, I was not even thinking of draw at any point in time”. This golden mantra became the sole reason for the success of the Indian team. From there on, they never accept defeat, they fight back till the end and that has changed the face of Indian cricket forever.

It is not a tough task but a cakewalk for him to play in overseas conditions. Whether it is a bouncy pitch or swinging track or rank turner, he treated it in the same manner. Out of the fabulous four, he has the best average in SENA nations. But initially, he struggled a lot to adapt himself to England’s conditions. Outswingers and Inswingers confused him a bit and he could not encounter them. The result was in the report card of India’s tour of England. In ten Innings, he just scored 134 runs with an average of 13.4. It was not even below average score but worse than that. This was marked as the decline of his dynasty and some people even called him a flat-track bully. 

Did he give up?! NO DEFINITELY NOT!!!! This Pheonix is known for undergoing acid baths now and then and every time it emerges out with golden colours. The same thing happened that time too. But it did not happen overnight. He had to practise hours together and sweat a lot keeping his nose to the grindstone. He had to uproot the technical flaws of his shots. From scratch, he had to work on it. Just like how he had worked out in the gym for several days to reduce his weight and to fix himself fit enough for test format, he fought for this too. He was giving his 110% commitment for that cause. All that hard work paid off. There came the resurrection and the springtime. Kohli improved a lot as a player and a captain. They cannot be separated, they complemented each other. It was a winning combination.

He hit centuries in Australia, West Indies, South Africa and proved that he was exceptional but revenge inside him was waiting for its due date. Then came the day after four summers. It was 2018 when India toured England. Old memories can haunt you, the bitter experiences can outplay you. So history was expected to repeat and Kohli was anticipated to fall for this old trap named swing bowling. But the expectations of England were not synchronised with reality. The colours of Kohli had already changed and he was in the mood to show his hidden demon king for them. Revenge Time was on high alert. Every single bowler was taken care of. The top of it was Anderson – Kohli duo’s encounters. Kohli was playing in English conditions better than any England player. With his monster’s hunger to score runs, he hunted the English bowlers and made them doubt their abilities. When he had finished the series with a starting average of 59.3, Steve Waugh said, “This guy is a global superstar, will break all the records in world cricket”. 

Kohli had justified every word said by Steve. 2016 – 2019 was Kohli’s Era. His test career average is 50.39 but during this period alone it was unbelievably above 65!!!! Kohli’s overall average in overseas conditions is 42 but in SENA nations alone, it is 44 and that is what identifies him as John Cena of SENA nations. In SENA soils, against their bowlers whose average is better than 28, Kohli is holding the record for an Indian batsman to have the highest average (55). Only Sachin Tendulkar stands next to him with 47. This eminent data speaks volumes about him. Out of Kohli’s 27 test centuries, 14 came in away grounds which explains his dominance in foreign soil.

He established his empire everywhere not just as a batsman and also as a captain. His visions and missions to win test series in SENA nations was once a dream but then it was happening in the real world. His road map to achieve it by sharpening his fast bowlers as his weapons were fruitful and the Indian team had reached the peaks just because of it. The quest for success which was injected by him into the veins of the Indian players had turned them into the hulks to hunt their goals.

As the 71st player to play in 100 Tests, Kohli is looking for his chances to end his century drought and hit his 71st century. None of the Indians had achieved this feat of scoring a ton on their 100th test. 

If Kohli does that, then that will be a special occasion to remember the mutual love of this Queen and the King together……