“In years to come, I would like to see Virat Kohli do what MS Dhoni did” – Pragyan Ojha ahead of landmark 100th Test vs Sri Lanka

For someone who has been a staunch advocate of Test cricket, Virat Kohli playing his 100th will indeed be a landmark moment in the game. Just how Sachin Tendulkar’s 200* off 147 changed the way people looked at ODIs, Kohli’s three-figure mark is also bound to inspire generations to come.

From spectators not being allowed for the opening Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali to the authorities finally giving in, the social media outrage from fans and experts alike deserves a lion's share of the credit. After all, it was Virat Kohli who almost single-handedly got people hooked to Tests – be it by leading the team to memorable wins or gesticulating at the crowd on a staid afternoon.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, former India spinner Pragyan Ojha echoed similar sentiments, saying Kohli has changed the landscape of the longest format. He further lauded the former skipper for being the crusader in delivering consistently in all three formats.

“There was a talk that Test cricket is facing a lot of challenges, in terms of viewership and fans getting engaged. But Virat Kohli is one person who has redefined Test cricket, with the energy and commitment and attitude. These kind of superstars are required because he is widely followed and, when they play Test cricket in a certain way, that really encourages a lot of cricketers all over the world.

“He’s even compared to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo. Every generation had someone who changed cricket how it was played, so it’s Virat in this generation who has redefined it. Transforming from red ball to white-ball cricket is a big challenge, and every format requires different things. But Virat has proven himself across formats and he has shown youngsters that, if they work hard and are really focused, they can overcome that mental block of adjusting to different formats,” Ojha said.

Pragyan Ojha was there that morning in Jamaica on June 20, 2011 when Virat Kohli was presented with his Test cap. The left-arm spinner spoke highly of how Kohli grew on the fly, while shedding light on his exploits Down Under later that year.

“Test debut is very, very special. For any cricketer, getting that Test cap is the ultimate thing. He was very excited. No matter how much white-ball cricket you play, the feeling and emotions in Test cricket are totally different. And it was no different for Virat. We’ve seen the way he grew from there. The way he went to Australia in 2011/12; seniors were not getting runs in Australia and this guy went there and got a hundred. That’s where a lot of things slowly changed for him, that self-belief grew stronger,” Ojha remarked.

The then 22-year-old Kohli could manage just 76 runs in three Tests against the West Indies. He even lost his place in the side before replacing an ailing Yuvraj Singh for the return series against the Windies that November. After scoring a fifty in each innings in Mumbai, Kohli made the headlines by stroking a feisty 75 in Perth and following it up with 116 in Adelaide.

Like always, naysayers had written Virat Kohli off after his stuttering start in the Caribbean. While lauding MS Dhoni and the team management of the time for giving him a longer rope, Pragyan Ojha underlined how Kohli has followed the same principle in grooming the current crop of players.

“There were a lot of comments where people thought Virat may or may not be a Test cricketer. But the way he changed those views about himself is commendable. Once someone makes his Test debut, that means the selectors and management were very confident that Virat had it in him to play red-ball cricket. So judging someone on one series is unfair. If you see over the years, the biggest example is Mohammed Siraj.

“When he first came, everybody thought he doesn’t belong to international cricket. And then look at the way he’s transformed himself. So it is about the space and confidence you give your players. Virat himself goes on record to say how MSD and senior cricketers guided him, and that is very important, and today we’re talking about Virat Kohli who’s India’s most successful captain and the player who is going to play his 100th Test,” the 35-year-old stated.

From being forced into a three-year hiatus from international cricket to slogging it out in domestic cricket and the IPL, Siraj’s comeback story originates from Kohli backing his players to the hilt.

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“When everybody started talking about Virat, that is what he enjoyed” – Pragyan Ojha

In his first Test as captain, while temporarily filling in for MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli scored 115 & 141 in Adelaide

One thing that has been evident in Virat Kohli’s 14-year-long international career is that he thrives in challenges. Be it toying with Australia in 2014/15 after hitting a career low in England, or throwing unsavoury comments into the stump mic in South Africa earlier this year – Kohli is always up for a fight and comes out victorious more often than not. To be precise, he subconsciously knows he’ll be at his best if riled up.

He was down and out after managing just 134 runs in 10 Test innings in the 2014 English summer. But the self-belief was always intact. In an interview last year, he admitted how he was visualising hitting Mitchell Johnson even before going to Australia. Once there, Kohli brought his imagination to life as he plundered 692 runs at an average of 86.50 with four centuries to boot.

Pragyan Ojha believes it is the Delhi influence in Kohli that helped him ingrain the ‘pay the opposition back in the same coin’ culture in the Indian team.

“For Virat Kohli, a lot goes back to the culture he’s grown up in. Delhi has that culture where people are in your face and they like that attention. So when everybody started talking about Virat, that is what he enjoyed. There are a few cricketers who don’t enjoy being in the limelight, they don’t enjoy that added responsibility.

“But these are the exact things which worked in Virat’s favour. He always had the skills, otherwise he wouldn’t have succeeded in the other formats. But when everybody started talking about him being the next person who can do really well in red-ball cricket and the limelight that he got because of that, I think that is what really motivated him,” Ojha, who is a member of the IPL Governing Council, told Sportskeeda.

In fact, those very credentials worked for a new guy taking over the mantle of Test captaincy from MS Dhoni. From leading the side to a first series victory in Sri Lanka in 22 years to becoming the first Asian team to win in Australia to making the inaugural World Test Championship, Virat Kohli has grown to become India’s most successful captain in Tests - 40 wins out of 68 at a win percentage of 58.82.

Ojha opined that the star batter was also aided by an illustrious bench strength and a fast bowling battery, the seeds of which were sown by Kohli himself on the 2018 tour of South Africa.

“Dada started the mindset of going abroad and winning, but this guy proved it again and again. His aggression, the way he’s carried his team – beating Australia back to back, dominating England in their own backyard, playing the finals of the World Test Championship were remarkable achievements. He had the best bowling attack and a great bench strength – that is the biggest cushion as a captain – so everything came together.

“He had his challenges but, as captain, the way he thought about the game, the way he wanted to play the game, everything fell into place. On the field, the way he wanted to express himself, his team was always backing him. There are so many times when a captain is very aggressive but the team is not that aggressive; so everything synced for Virat and that’s why we all enjoyed that period,” Ojha elaborated.

India were the top-ranked Test side for five consecutive years, from 2016 to 2020. The period also coincided with Kohli leading by example and piling on the runs – from Jan 1, 2015 to Dec 31, 2019, he accumulated 4,848 runs at 62.15 along with 18 hundreds and 12 fifties.

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“At times, that intensity comes down a bit” – Pragyan Ojha

Virat Kohli and Test vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah (R) during a training session in Mohali [Credits: BCCI]

Having relinquished all captaincies, the 100th Test starting tomorrow, in a way, will mark the start of a second wind for Virat Kohli.

He not being as brash as he was back in the day, was the talk of the town during the ODIs in South Africa. Pragyan Ojha reasoned that it’s all part of the workload management a player requires to prolong their career. It was something even the man himself had mentioned in the post announcing stepping down from the T20 roles.

“When you’re playing at that intensity, at times that intensity comes down a bit, because you’re also human at the end of the day. So this is the phase when he’s trying to be a little more settled. Playing all the three formats and the IPL, and carrying that energy for almost a decade has been brilliant.

"But at some point, you want to prolong your career and you thus have to manage your energy well. We can’t doubt his skills or leadership qualities, but the energy level that he had when he was 21-22 won’t be the same as that of now. Striking that balance is always a challenge. You take the great Sachin paaji – what he was at 21 and what he was at 35, there was a drastic change,” Ojha explained.

Coincidentally, these developments have come at a time when Kohli is going through a major slump in form. A hundred has eluded him for 28 months. But among the slew of pleas for the 71st ton, Ojha wishes Kohli goes the MS Dhoni way and grooms leaders for the future.

“In years to come, I would like to see Virat Kohli do what MS Dhoni did – building few more cricketers who can take Indian cricket forward from here. He will obviously have individual goals while playing for the country but, as a member of Indian cricket, I would expect him to create a few more leaders who can take forward this team the way we’ve seen over the years. The baton has passed on to the next generation, so I want all the senior boys to make sure it is passed smoothly,” he concluded.

With talks rife about Virat Kohli failing to rediscover his mojo, the 100th Test could well be the perfect springboard for him to shut out the ‘outside noise’.