Talent, technique and temperament - Virat Kohli ticks all the boxes

Virat Kohli

The 281 era is over. The last of the pillars of the famed Indian batting line-up has bid adieu, as well. VVS Laxman will not be agonizing the Australians with the wristy strokeplay and lazy elegance any more. Rahul Dravid will not be stonewalling the opposition for hours. The aggression of Sourav Ganguly is already being missed. However, with all due respect to all the other young talented batsmen in the team, there is one man who has not let us miss the 281 era.

He’s ruthless. He’s abrasive. He’s brash. He has already been touted as the next big thing and very rightly so. It will be safe to assume that by the time he’s done, he will be the biggest name in Indian cricket, surpassing the God himself! He brings with him a level of aggression which is a couple of notches higher than that of Dada. He may not exude the lazy elegance of Laxman, but his wrists are equally good as his. He puts a prize on his wicket just like Dravid used to. Finally, his hunger for runs surpasses the Little Master himself.

The speed at which he has been accumulating runs, especially in limited overs format, has been nothing short of breathtaking. Technically, he cannot be more correct or better.

The kind and level of maturity and match awareness that he has shown at such a young age should serve as a lesson for all young and upcoming players. Not only does he have the talent and the requisite technique to play against the best of the bowlers on the toughest of pitches but also the temperament to make sure they don’t go unutilised; these aspects of his game prove that he will survive, nay flourish, in the tough rigors of international cricket irrespective of the formats. Kohli has already registered 19 centuries (11 of them have come while chasing) in 134 ODIs and 6 centuries in 24 Tests. He is already close to 6000 runs in ODI cricket (5634 to be precise). He has scored Test centuries on the bouncy pitches of Johannesburg, Wellington and Bellerive Oval. To top it all, he is still only a 25-year-old.

Making his international debut after Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma in 2008, he has gone way ahead of them. Whenever he is on the field, whether fielding or batting, his eyes reflect steely determination and a sense of purpose. He is brazen and doesn’t want to hide his emotions, yet he retains his sense of maturity and composure. He is the epitome of modern day sportsman: He talks a lot; he sports flunky tattoos; he is apparently dating a Bollywood actress; he vents his frustration publicly; he is not afraid to speak his mind and is not reluctant to give it back to the opposition.

The most important thing, though, is that he always backs it up with his on-field performances, and his off-field extravaganzas are never a distraction for him. His understanding of the match situation and his reaction to the particular situation is nothing less than outstanding. Be it his 100 off 52 balls to chase down a target of 360, his 133 off 86 to score 320 in 36 overs or his match-saving century on a dustbowl in Nagpur, all of them are testimony to the fact that he reads his situation aptly, reacts accordingly and, more often than not, succeeds in seizing the moment. He seldom, almost never, gets out to a loose delivery.

The icing on the cake is his captaincy skills. In addition to leading the Indian U-19 team to a World Cup win in 2008, he has also led the senior side admirably whenever required.

Kohli, who started off as an exciting talent, has now become the most dependable batsman for India and is well and truly on his way to becoming one of the modern day greats of the game.