Thank You Virat Kohli: A Parting Note From A Test Cricket Enthusiast

The impact of Virat Kohli on the next generation will obviously be measured through the runs he scored, his captaincy record, and the wins he accumulated overseas. But what his impact really was, goes beyond just numbers. Ironically, I, an absolute cricket number cruncher am saying this but that is the legacy of Virat Kohli the Test cricketer.

The generation of our fathers grew up on a staple diet of Test Cricket. Early on, they listened to matches on the radio. They watched legends like Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar take on the feared West Indian pace quartet.

I grew up on stories of the Ashes and timeless Test matches. Sometimes they came through conversations with elders who loved cricket. Other times, they came from the many cricket trivia and quiz books I devoured in the mid to late 2000s. Highlights packages and cricket PC games often featured the Ashes of 2005 when it came to Test cricket. As a kid, I remember feeling incredibly intrigued by the nuances of cricket. Even though I only understood a little, the overload of information fascinated me.

Red ball cricket was the epitome of this sport. Our coaches told us this while we were growing up in our cricket academies. Even as under-14s, we played multi-day matches. We mostly practiced with the red ball. This was true not just in India, but in many traditional cricket school setups around the world.

And as a consequence of this upbringing of mine, I was watching Test Cricket fairly early and supporting India. Except, life as an Indian test fan was not the best, especially if you hated losing. I watched Test Cricket growing up, during an era when India often got demolished overseas, getting whitewashed on tours of England and Australia.

My frustration knew no bounds as I sat in front of the TV for hours on end, only to watch India get absolutely hammered. The feeling of helplessness was constant during these tours. It wasn’t just the Indian team that felt it – many of us kids watching our heroes in white did too.

And so with that establishment of context, I’d like to take you through the experience of an average Indian boy, experiencing the Virat Kohli era of Test cricket, what it meant to us growing up, how it shaped possibly everything from our outlook on sport to how we present ourselves today and everything that we stand for.

Virat Kohli & Test Cricket: The Perfect Marriage

Virat Kohli was on his way to becoming a sensation. He was one of the finest young batters in the world, already boasting a World Cup hundred and multiple ODI hundreds to his name. His fiercely competitive and brash nature; every 11-year-old wanted to be like him. Here’s a man who was class, through and through. Taking on some of the world’s finest bowlers and dispatching them with disdain.

Naturally, given the circumstances I faced as an avid cricket watcher who was initially averse to Test cricket, Virat Kohli’s Test debut felt like a perfect marriage of worlds. India was about to tour the West Indies for a three-match Test series. It was a relatively competitive tour—not the toughest, but a good starting point for a young Virat Kohli.

As Virat fans, it was the ultimate test we saw for him at that stage. Could he succeed like he had in ODIs? This was, after all, the ultimate format. One that demanded not one day of intensity, but 5 days of gruelling physical and mental toughness. A format where your flaws were glaringly evident if you did not fix yourself up quickly. A form of cricket where the conditions, field settings, and bowlers were a lot more challenging. A format where India’s overseas records were abysmal.

Fond Memories From Virat Kohli & His Early Days

I still remember that series like it was yesterday. Heck, I even have a newspaper cutting of it on my wall! Not something my mother was too impressed with at the time. However it is now something the entire family looks at rather fondly.

I would be glued to the screen, watching the likes of Rahul Dravid shepherding the young Indian batters. It was the case through most test innings during that period. A young Kohli had finally got his chance, coming in predominantly at Number 5 through that series.

But boy was it a struggle. He notched up scores of 4 & 15 in his first Test match. It was as though my whole world had fallen apart. My first instinct after Virat’s twin failures? Check how many runs Sachin scored in HIS first test match. To my relief, the great Sachin Tendulkar also happened to score 15 in his first Test innings. I checked for a couple of other greats too, and they too were dismissed in their 10s.

Even from there, however, Virat went on to have a dismal series. With only a score of 30 showing any kind of substantial batting from the young man at the time. Virat was also subsequently dropped, owing to the return of Sachin back into the squad for the upcoming Test series. A few of us honestly thought that was it.

As fate would have it though, Virat did get another chance and it was against the West Indies once again. With Yuvraj Singh ruled out due to injury in the 3rd and final Test match of that series, Virat walked out as Yuvi’s replacement.
This time, he made it count. Getting twin half-centuries, scores of 52 & 63 ensured Virat would stay afloat in this format. It would also be the reason he boarded the flight to Australia. The series labeled often, as his “baptism by fire”.

The Lone Warrior

For anyone who remembers watching the Border Gavaskar Trophy of 2011-2012, you’ll know what transpired in this series. That series was probably one of the most outright drubbings of a depleting Indian side. It tops most people’s lists as one to forget.

In a series where Ricky Ponting, who was being written off and rumored to retire, made a mockery of India’s bowlers. In that same series, Michael Clarke bludgeoned 329 runs. Pup and Punter put on a stand of 386. India lost 4-0. Virat Kohli was the sole silver lining for India on that tour.

Every match was a nightmare to watch. Getting up in the early AM, only to watch our idols slogging it out in the Australian summer. With the Indian fast bowlers being sent to the cleaners and the Indian batters unable to go past 70 or 80 through the entirety of the series.

Amidst this absolute shit show, Virat was already in the limelight for the wrong reasons. My man flicked his finger off to the Aussie crowd and it perfectly summed up the team’s state in the series – frustrated and pitiful. His scores did not match his on-field attitude, with not even a 50 to show in 5 innings. Talks of his permanent axing from the team gained steam.

As a fan watching Test cricket and following Virat’s career, I watched his every inning across formats. I knew that a lack of performance here would almost definitely mean the end for him. India never had a shortage of talent; everyone was almost replaceable.

Missing, edging, driving, nudging, ducking, swaying – his batting had it all. With a batting order that boasted Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and VVS Laxman, here was a 23-year-old man trying hard, gritting it out for his country. You could see the disappointment every time he was dismissed. You could see how much it meant to him and yet how little he was able to do.

But as has been evident throughout his career, he defied the odds for the very first time in this format. With scores of 44 & 75 at a bouncy WACA pitch in Perth, top scoring for India in both innings, Kohli looked by far the best Indian batter on display. And this, in a side that boasted one of India’s greatest Test batting lineups.

His progression through the series had come almost like a crescendo with a peak finally in sight. Kohli closed out that series with one of the finest centuries at Adelaide, his first in Test cricket. While all of Australia celebrated a series win, they also took notice of a young star, one who would go on to dominate them for years to come.

What Virat Did For Young Cricket Fans Like Me

From there on, you are no stranger to Virat’s career progression. His horrendous run in England, his return to Australia, and unreal domination while also taking over as India’s captain. Virat’s was a most sudden yet expected rise to captaincy. The path he took the Indian team on, is what we will always remember him for.

A big shift beyond just the fitness culture he brought about or the aggression and mindset he exuded, was, for me, the pull I felt towards watching Test cricket under Virat’s captaincy. For most teenagers, the IPL was it. I would often find myself waiting for the IPL season to end in order to watch Test cricket. Much of this had to do with India’s ability under Virat to do well overseas. They always put up a fight, and refused to fold like a pack of cards.

A mighty home season where Virat plundered runs was a joy to watch. But the culture he carried forward – in terms of India’s bowling lineups, the pace quartet, and how he played Ashwin and Jadeja, was an indicator of the visionary he was. It planted the seed of dreams for India’s Test future.

For the first time in my relatively nascent Test cricket-watching career, I looked forward to India’s bowling as much as their batting. In those home series, it was almost always a given that one or the other Indian batter would plunder runs. But during India’s bowling innings, I eagerly watched the on-field banter. I paid attention to the purchase off the pitch, how Virat was reacting, the fields being set, and the bowling lineup and rotations picked based on the conditions.

Winning at home was no biggie, with India spinning themselves or out-batting opponents on most days to victory. But it’s also something we took quite for granted. Under Kohli’s regime, before I even get to what this team was able to inspire overseas, let’s not forget India’s incredible home dominance, where we lost just 2 Test matches at home.

Virat’s Test Legacy

Realistically speaking, however, leading overseas in SENA was always going to be the metric that people judged Virat’s captaincy by. He started off in South Africa and you already knew that he meant business. Sledging the South Africans and giving them a mouthful every time he could, rotating his fast bowlers, and having them deliver ever so often, the Indian team under Virat Kohli played as a single unit possessed.

He walked the talk too, scoring quality runs and batting in an ethereal plane where he was all alone. Virat wasn’t just a solo act, he carried all of India with him. Every single one of India’s players would put their bodies on the line. We as fans believed that we could win overseas. Series scorelines may not reflect the most favorable results, but it is no secret that a lot of those Test matches were a lot closer than the scorecards suggested.

The icing on the cake and Virat’s legacy came in 2018-19 when he led India to a historic triumph in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy down under, a huge moment of redemption for Indian fans all over. For a boy who’d watched India lose 4-0 to a young man watching India beat Australia in Australia was significant beyond just cricket for me. To see the Australian batters practically duck bouncers from Indian pacers in fear and to see Kohli smirk at the sight of it, are some things that when I watch as edits or highlights to this day give me goosebumps.

It was in itself a moment of great pride and reflection on the journey of India since that terrible Test season in 2011-12. A reminder of how far we’d come as a cricketing nation. If Ganguly had shown that India could fight, Kohli showed that India could win. Kohli showed that we would not back down from a challenge. He was the reflection of a younger, more confident India- one that believed in letting their skills do the talking but also one that did not stay quiet when provoked.

In Closing

Virat made Test cricket box office. He made it loud, he made the whites colorful. In reality, it was always supposed to be that way. But for a generation that grew up on social media, quick dopamine hits & instant gratification, it took a Virat Kohli to draw our attention to the longest format of the game. The in-your-face attitude, the hunger to want to do well, and the belief that we could win anywhere, irrespective of the situation were what Kohli made us believe in.

While my love for Test cricket will always remain, I would be lying if I said that I am at peace with his retirement. For a man who I constantly looked up to, followed through his career, analyzed, made content on, and wrote about, it will be tough knowledge to know that he won’t be taking the field again.

In his own way, however, Virat’s decision to take retirement at this juncture is yet another indicator of how deeply he cared for Indian Test cricket. Many might come close to Virat the Test batter, but few will ever touch the pinnacle of legacy that he has left Indian Cricket with.

Until next time, O Captain, My Captain.