The story rewinds back to the dying stages of 2013 when the whole of India and the cricket fraternity were saddened by Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement from international cricket. Numerous fans vowed never to watch the game again for the sole reason that cricket’s golden days have been left behind along with Tendulkar.
Little did they know that there’s something enthralling itching to glow in the form of Virat Kohli. India was coming off a stupendous home series triumph over the West Indies with a whitewash of 2-0. Riding on the oozing confidence of the victory, India headed to South Africa for a two-match Test series.
The responsibility that came with Sachin’s retirement
India had to fill in the number four position and Kohli was slotted in at that position. It was Kohli’s debut series in South Africa and the fact that he had to counter the likes of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel which made it even more menacing.
The first Test was staged at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, popularly known by the name of the Bull Ring. The deck had grass-covering and was likely to gather pace as the game progressed.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the then Indian skipper, reckoned the turf to be healthy for batting and chose to have a crack at the Proteas bowlers. It didn’t take time for the South African pace battery to dictate terms as they snapped up the openers rather cheaply.
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Dhawan fell prey to an attempted pull shot of Dale Steyn right into the palms of fine-leg while Murali Vijay ran out of patience, fishing outside the off-stump and handed AB de Villiers with the simplest of catches. India, meanwhile, slumped to 24/2 and ambled along at a run rate of 1.6 in the initial 15 overs of the game.
An innings of substance
Virat Kohli joined in Cheteshwar Pujara to resurrect the initial stutter. It wasn’t a cakewalk for Kohli, it neither was for any sub-continent batsman playing his debut Test in the land of diamonds against some terrorising chin-music bowling. Nevertheless, Kohli didn’t allow the nerves to fluster him into playing false strokes.
He got off the mark with an exquisite pull shot of a well-directed bouncer by the hulking Jacques Kallis. His initial ten deliveries fetched nothing, but the signs of aggression didn’t take time expressing themselves as Kohli went on a rampage and plundered 32 runs off the next 22 balls that were decorated by five boundaries.
Cover drive, on-drive, leg glance, and pull- Kohli’s range of strokes wasn’t letting the bowlers get on top of him. At lunch, India was placed at 70/2. Pujara’s unflappable mindset acted as a perfect foil for Kohli’s exuberance. Kohli ended the session at a run-a-ball and notched up 32 of 32 deliveries.
Kohli went on his merry way and the partnership piled on to 89 runs, out of which 65 came off Kohli’s willow. He brought up his half century in 76 balls, much to the delight of Kohli and to the relief of the Indian dressing room. A dreadful mix-up halted the stand as Pujara was left stranded mid-pitch, gifting away the third wicket to the South Africans.
Rohit Sharma couldn’t last long as he feathered the ball to the keeper to leave India in a spot of bother at 151/3 with 37 overs remaining for the day. Kohli steadfastly turned himself into the nucleus of the team as others played round him only to perish after getting their eyes in.
India racked up 164/4 in 55 overs at the end of the second session and Kohli scored 50% of the rims. It was a wristy whip towards mid-wicket off JP Duminy that saw Kohli register himself as the 8th Indian batsman to a Test ton in South Africa.
It required a cunning off-cutter by Kallis to get rid of the set batsman as Kohli lobbed a sitter to cover fielder. India didn’t manage much after Kohli’s demise and folded for 280 runs. Riding on the shoulders of Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan, India bowled the Proteas out for 244.
With a lead of 36 runs, India had the match by the scruff of the neck and the Indian batsmen piled the agony on South Africa, haemorrhaged 421 runs in the second innings and therefore set a target of an improbable 458 runs in four sessions.
The class of Pujara, blended with sheer brilliance from Kohli, helped India set the mammoth target. Lady Luck didn’t quite smile on Kohli this time round as he fell four short of back to back centuries, falling prey to a part-timer in JP Duminy.
A career graph that never dropped
The fourth innings shattered all expectations and panned out to be a humdinger. After India had got them on the mat, the Proteas knuckled down and clawed their way back into the game through a huge partnership between Faf du Plessis (134) and A.B de Villiers (103). The match ended in a draw, but even in the last over it was poised to go either way as both teams knocked on the doors of victory.
Kohli was rightfully crowned the man of the match courtesy two knocks of the highest calibre. It’s been three long years since the epic knock and the man from Delhi punched above his weight and made the number four position his own. With an average of 58.81 along with 11 tons in that slot, Kohli has picked the bones out of his rivals.
The sky is the limit for Kohli and racking up runs at will, only adds to his hunger and captaincy has got the best out of him. It’s near impossible to gauge Kohli’s peak point in his career as he tends to topple himself and expectations every time he comes in to bat. And needless to say, he has more than justified his induction in the legendary position at number four.
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