9230 runs at 46.85 in 123 matches, these are numbers that Virat Kohli yielded during his 14-year-long Test career. If you ask any purists, these are not legendary numbers. Mostly, batters with more than 10,000 Test runs and an average of more than 50, fall in this category of elite cricketers. Only three Indian batters – Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid- have the amalgamation of these two stats on their impressive cricketing resume.
It is a famous adage that once you are done, you are not remembered for your numbers but for the way you played the game. What impact did you have on the sport, and Kohli was like a vaccine that kept the red-ball version alive in this era of Twenty20 cricket.
He promoted it, lifted it, and gave it a new lease of life. With Virat, it was always about all or nothing. He gave his heart and soul to Test cricket, lived it, cherished it, and the memories will stay with us forever. His energy was so infectious that it drove the whole team, and with him as the helmsman, it was a wonderful ride, for both fans and his side. It was a love affair between Kohli and Test cricket, one that would be remembered always.
After winning the 2011 World Cup, Virat famously said, “Sachin Tendulkar has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years, it was time we carried him.” The baton was passed there and Virat, as well as Sachin and the whole of India, can be proud.
Virat Kohli – The relentless Test captain
Kohli led India in 68 Test matches, winning 40, drawing 11, and losing 17, which puts him right there with the best Test skippers of all time. The veteran had a win percentage of 58.8 (minimum 50 Test matches), which is the third best, after Steve Waugh (71.9) and Ricky Ponting (62.3).
In his maiden Test match as captain in 2014, when the Indian team went for the target of 364 against Australia at Adelaide, he gave us the blueprint of what was to follow. From there onwards, Kohli took India’s Test team from a quagmire to the top echelons of the sport. Not only did India just reach there, but also Kohli’s team stayed at the pinnacle of the Test rankings for a consecutive period of 42 months.
Kohli understood one thing very early as a Test captain that it was imperative for the team to add muscle to their pace battery. Since independence, India was known to produce batters and spinners, but a bunch of promising fast bowlers hardly came together on the big stage. Under Kohli’s tutelage, the Indian pacers averaged 26 and had a strike rate of 51.39, second best after Sir Viv Richards.
The Fire
While India always savored success in home conditions, they could not close out series while playing away from home. That changed when India won their maiden Test series Downunder on the 2018-19 tour.
Kohli always had a bundle of energy, either when he was backing his fast bowlers or when it was about taking the opposition by its horns. He never backed down, he never wanted to, it was not in his DNA. He was always ready for a dogfight, giving it back to the Australians on the 2014 tour and the 2017 home series. He showed glimpses of that aggression very early in his career, when he showed a middle finger to the Sydney crowd.
The insatiable hunger to succeed
Kohli found great success at the top level, and he has always mentioned that his fitness played an instrumental role.
Ian Bishop said on commentary when Kohli dived to reach his ground after steaming in for the second run in 2023, “He has played 500 games and knows the value of each run. He even puts his body on the line for a run, which speaks volumes about his commitment on the field. I wish I could tell every youngster in the Caribbean to adopt his running approach and not wait for boundaries.”
That hunger for an extra run showed Kohli’s heart for the extra grind.
Virat – it was a pleasure to see you roar like a King, and there is no doubt that you have motivated the young generation to fall in love with the pristine form of the game. And that’s your legacy, not the numbers.
