This story is being republished from The Quint's archives on the occasion of Virat Kohli's 30th birthday on 5 November.)
It’s hard to now imagine that India’s love for one-day cricket started only as late as 1983. Since then India has had a number of champion batsmen who have fashioned our rise as a power in limited-overs formats.
The 1980s sides of India were a combination of aggressive and steady batting. The 1990s rested entirely on the might of Sachin Tendulkar and the silken grace of his captain Mohammed Azharuddin.
As we moved into the new century, India acquired bit more teeth with the likes of Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh adding power to Tendulkar’s brilliance.
But this new decade of 2010s has belonged single-handedly to just one man, Virat Kohli.
When you look back at his arrival and his continuous rise since his debut in 2008, Kohli has grown steadily in the past decade. He has singularly changed the grammar of ODI cricket forever.
He is consistent, hungry and constantly on the look out for big daddy hundreds. There are no half measures. If you look at his numbers, it is hardly a surprise that he is second only to Tendulkar. And dare we say, he could well go past the master batsman from Mumbai.
This was hardly a thought anyone would have entertained a few years ago when Tendulkar was still around. But now we can say with some certainty that Tendulkar’s ODI records will definitely be broken by the modern master, Kohli.
In some sense the churn in world cricket has meant that Kohli is progressing unhindered currently without a challenger in sight in the ODI format at least.
Along with fellow players like Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Joe Root, Kohli is currently is tied in a separate battle for primacy in Test match cricket. But when you change clothing, Kohli is far and beyond the best in the business.
He is to this era, what Sir Viv Richards was in his heydays in the 1970s and 1980s. He has the same impact as a Richards had on the 50-over format. There may be some debate about the quality of bowling on display currently and the tougher battles that Richards faced. But what Kohli faces is what is served to him by the rival sides. He can only play the opposition that is out on the park.
Kohli’s impact in ODI cricket has also outstripped the hold Tendulkar had on the format. Even Kohli’s first captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had established a fine hold in the format. But Kohli has just risen above all that to a new height.
His composure in a tough chase especially is a lesson for all budding batsmen or even managers trying to understand how to withstand pressure.
A Tendulkar was thrown in the deep end quite early on with few of the experienced players already on the wane. However, Kohli had the good fortune of having a few of the senior players in the mix, even as he was finding his way on the world stage.
He started off as an opener by a quirk of fate thanks to an injury to an established opener. But by 2012, he was holding his place by right, almost putting his seniors out of job.
Kohli’s rise in 50 over cricket has also been in some measure due to the foundation that he usually gets from his openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. The opening pair is steady without ever being outrageous and that has helped Kohli in the shorter formats. He gets in when his task becomes easier because the openers have weathered the early storm.
Kohli then simply murders the bowling with his touch, rather than power. He makes batting look really easy. But it is this top-order which is both India’s weakness and strength as we saw in the 2017 Champions Trophy final.
With South Africa’s talisman AB de Villiers blowing hot and cold, Kohli’s only challenger currently is his own mind. Pakistan’s Babar Azam is showing signs of consistency in his returns, whereas Kohli’s rival captains are also in the running in their own way.
So Kohli now needs to challenge himself to target 20,000 ODI runs, just a shade above Tendulkar’s .
But now as a captain, Kohli’s sights would surely be now set on winning a major ODI title that has eluded India since the 2013 Champions Trophy. The way he celebrated that night at Birmingham in 2013 showed a younger much more abrasive Kohli. Now in his leadership role, Kohli is much more subdued, but more focused with excellence being his only target. With less than two years to go for the 2019 World Cup, Kohli’s target is plain and clear.
Kohli’s other big challenge is getting a notch above the brat pack in the Test match format. But that is a different battle altogether, which Kohli would certainly be keen to win all by himself.
For now, let’s just celebrate the modern day master Kohli who has quickly risen the ranks in the pantheon of great ODI batsmen of all time.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)