Kohli’s march to greatness continues as he topples the English challenge

A firmament of his own

Kohli's heroics have garnered praise from current and former players alike

Unsurprisingly, the recent string of astounding performances has brought encomiums from all corners. Former Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara claimed he can become India's greatest ever batsman while former Pakistani spinner and current English spin consultant, Saqlain Mushtaq hailed him as India’s new Tendulkar.

The English commentators have been gushing in praise to the extent that there have been suggestions that English batsmen are being taught a lesson in dealing with swinging conditions, ‘the Virat masterclass’ if you will. From dynamic tyros like Sam Curran basking in his excellence to fabled icons likes Sunil Gavaskar consecrating him in the pantheon of cricketing greats. It has been an English summer to remember for Virat.

In 69 Tests, he has 5994 runs with 23 centuries and 18 half-centuries. In ODIs, he has 9779 runs with 35 centuries at an average of 58.20. In T20Is, he has hit 2102 runs in 62 matches with 18 fifties. In all, he has amassed 17875 runs, 58 centuries and 84 half-centuries in his 10-year career

On 5 August, he became the No.1 ranked Test batsman in the ICC Test rankings to go with his ODI top spot. He is the seventh Indian batsman and first since Sachin Tendulkar in 2011 to reach the top spot in Tests. He has the highest ever ratings as far as Indian batsmen go with 937 points in Tests. The man from Delhi has also achieved historic rating points (ICC rankings) by an Indian batsman in ODIs (911 points) and T20Is (897 points).

He is the first batsman ever to score double centuries in four consecutive series and has scored the most runs for an Indian cricketer in a three-match Test series – 610 runs against Sri Lanka (2017) after starting with a duck in the first innings. Records continue to galore!

The coming of age

Kohli has metamorphosed into a fan's and peers' favourite

Virat is a metronome that plays one ball at a time and session by session. He was beaten 40 times by James Anderson in the Trent Bridge test but he never got bristled. A testament to the unflinching resolve he bears. He has an insatiable appetite for runs and even greater for victory. But what is even more inspirational is the way he has matured into a talisman, a commercial behemoth and a role model, all at the same time.

Virat had been frequently lampooned and caricatured as a spoiled brat and pesky recalcitrant who did know how to take criticism or handle defeats. But that Virat has grown up into a glorious ambassador of not just Indian team but World Cricket.

Personally, his demeanour after the Champions Trophy mauling against arch nemesis Pakistan typified his metamorphosis both as a sportsperson and as a man. His gracious and articulate interviews, especially after a defeat, are a far cry in an age where cynicism, vainglory and self-aggrandizement are accepted normals.

He is still capable of psychological warfare and he still relishes playful badinage or strategic gamesmanship. The fire of impassioned competitiveness still burns but it does not assume the form of a conflagration anymore. The cricket-educated gentry in England, the provokingly raucous Aussies or the hostile neighbours in Pakistan, admiration for Virat has transcended the boundaries of geography, overzealous jingoism and snide covetousness.

If I have to give a football analogy, then he is like a humanoid fusion of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

Wayne Rooney is his teens was a human-shaped comet, a rampaging ball of fire with an ocean of potential, numerous curses and sheer exuberance of youth. But Rooney of early twenties overcame the hormones induced teenage petulance and arrogated a furnace to forge a steely competitive streak with all that talent. He became a restrained nuclear reactor than an uncontrollable atomic bomb. From being mercurial but inconsistent, he became a serial winner.

Virat has that fire in his belly too. He is a firebrand performer. If you diffuse the flame you will get only half the player, that too on his best days. He thrives on incense. He needs to be on the edge to set the stage alight.

The other part mimics Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese, over the years, has been a definition of human endeavour. The scrawny teenager has built himself into a physical colossus. With unparalleled dedication, he manufactured a machine-like professional out of himself that has realigned the expectations of a football athlete.

Virat has also gone through fitness transmorphism. We have read the exhaustive chronicles of Virat’s fitness and work ethic. It is no secret how he sets new standards as far as fitness, physical management and recovery routines go in the cricketing universe.

He is the gold standard and he is not even at his peak. He is not only the best at his craft, he is the hardest when it comes to graft. His relentless pursuit of physical supremacy and athleticism is similar to that of Cristiano Ronaldo, the biggest compliment one could give in that trait.

Virat continues to write his singular legacy

Legends are seldom blokes who settle for the mundane, the usual or the mediocre. They are relentless in pursuit of the seemingly unreachable and often the uncharted. Virat’s competitive ferocity is the fuel for the crucible that keeps churning these irrepressible accomplishments and panoply of records.

He has proven that, to borrow Kipling’s words, he can break himself down and rebuild with worn-out tools and dogged determination, the difference between the good and the great or maybe, the greatest.