Virat Kohli - Is he the future of Indian Cricket?

Virat Kohli the young lad from New Delhi has come a long way from being a young brash kid to a centurion on world cup debut. He showed his dedication to cricket when he turned out to play for Delhi against Karnataka in a Ranji trophy match and score a chanceless 90 and guide his team to safety despite the demise of his father earlier on the same day. Later he went to captain the Indian team to success in the U-19 world cup 2008. He had a very good world cup with the bat including a century against the West Indies under pressure. He finished the series with an average of 47 and was praised for him smart bowling changes.

Not a very long time later he was drafted into the Indian team for the Idea cup against Sri Lanka as Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were injured. He had a modest series which included a half century and crucial 37 in the low scoring second match of the series. This resulted in a call up to the champions trophy squad after Yuvraj Singh was injured and he scored a composed 74* in the match against the West Indies and this led to him becoming the reserve ODI batsmen for India. After Yuvraj did make a comeback to the team Kohli was sidelined to occasionally play a match. He stamped his authority as a classy ODI batsman only in December 2009 with his first limited overs century against Sri Lanka and from then on there has been no looking back. He had a fairly successful 2010 which started off on a great note with him scoring his second ODI century and two more half-centuries in the tri series in Bangladesh. He was highly praised for his composure, pressure absorbing capability and he was only the third Indian to score two ODI centuries before their 22^nd birthday.

Later on in mid-2010 he was named the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team which toured Zimbabwe which most of the first team players decided to skip. Being selected as the vice-captain showed the selectors were looking at him as a future prospect in the Indian team. He continued his good performances by adding two more half-centuries to his tally and ended the series with a batting series average of 42. In October, his innings of 118 that helped India chase a daunting Australian total of 289 showed he was really coming of age and was maturing as a cricketer. The way Kohli paced this innings of 118 was what showed that he was maturing as a cricketer.

In his next series against New Zealand he made a really strong statement for his inclusion in the world cup squad with his 4^th ODI hundred and two more half centuries. Certain qualities of Kohli that stood out in this series were the way he played to the situation of the team. India’s tour of South Africa was always going to be a test for the Indian team and Virat Kohli Made it into the team virtue of Gambhir’s and Sehwag’s injury in the test match series. He turned to be India’s best batsman in the series and Raina’s performance in the series pushed Kohli’s case of being in the starting 11 of the Indian team for the World cup even further.

On February 19, 2011 Virat Kohli made World cup debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka and scored a century making him the first one do so. Kohli has made his mark in Indian cricket with his consistent performances in limited overs format which has also risen him to the second spot in the ICC ODI batting rankings and he has proved time and again he has it in him to continue his good work. Also he has been hinted at being the future captain of India. So can confidently say that Kohli is one of the future stars of Indian cricket.