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On special day, vignettes of vintage Virat Kohli
Felt like I was making my debut, says former captain Virat Kohli on batting in his 100th Test
At the stroke of 11, Mohali finally found its voice. There were a few rumblings before, when Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal were one-day mode on the first session of a Test. But this hit a different crescendo. Every pair of eyes in Mohali trained on him, cameras ready to capture even a batting eyelid, Virat Kohli limbered out into the sun with a packed enclosure above him throbbing, humming and teeming with anticipation.
Just over an hour ago, Rahul Dravid had presented Kohli a memento in front of teammates, family and loved ones before saying a few words. “It’s a testament to everything. It’s well deserved, it’s well earned. As we say in the dressing room, double it up.” Kohli kept it even smaller, ending his ‘thank you’ reminding the world one of the reasons you play this game: to be recognised and honoured by a great. “I couldn’t have received it from a better person, my childhood hero. I still have that picture with you from my U-15 days,” said Kohli before providing a peek into how he would like to be remembered. “In times of three formats, I played 100 Tests. Next generation can take that from my career.”
No BCCI official around, nothing over the top really, it was a nice precursor to a day India were to bat first. And only one man mattered for the time being. Those Sharma pulls may be gold standard but since #VK100 is the hashtag of the day, why not revisit those cover drives cannoning off from the sweet spot? Kohli seemed geared up as well, right from briefly touching the ground before entering to taking a leg-stump guard. A quick look around, with short-leg and silly point in place, Kohli defended Lasith Embuldeniya’s left-arm spin to the off-side.
Next ball, Kohli surprises. Looking to flick a slightly tossed up ball, Kohli got a leading edge that had nerves written all over it. “Rahul bhai actually asked me in the morning how are you feeling and I said, ‘like I was making my debut’. I had butterflies in my stomach,” said Kohli after the end of the day’s play. “I didn’t realise the magnitude of the event till things got closer to today. It was a moment which was very, very special and I did feel very nervous walking out before.”
Before this Test, Kohli averaged 77.23 against Sri Lanka. And while this is a more inexperienced side compared to the past, even the easiest shot warrants hesitation when you haven’t scored a hundred in over two years. Sensing that, Embuldeniya quickly took out the cut shot by bowling stump to stump but Kohli kept trying to free up space, either aiming for cover or by hanging back. Next over, Vishwa Fernando restored his confidence with a full and angled delivery that Kohli almost stood and drilled down the ground. This was all timing.
Plenty of singles backed by solid defence, Kohli was looking to turn it on. And he was eschewing risks. But when Suranga Lakmal overpitched, Kohli regally flicked past midwicket for a boundary. Only Embuldeniya managed to open up Kohli’s defence time and again. Or maybe it was an elaborate set up, trying to make Kohli move away from the stumps when he wasn’t stretching out to cover his fuller lines. A long-hop came in the 31st over, a half-tracker that deserved to be put away. A punch through point raced to the boundary, followed by a steer through point a few deliveries later that gave Kohli his 8000th Test run. He’s getting there, slowly but steadily.
But then it falls apart with one shot. Landing on good length, this Embuldeniya delivery prompted Kohli to hang back, cover his lines and bring his bat down. The ball spun. And spun just enough. Exposing the off-stump to a left-handed spinner now felt like a cruel twist on a pitch that had no demons in it. Kohli paused a bit, looked at the pitch in disbelief and then trudged off. The wait just got longer but Kohli isn’t disheartened by any stretch of imagination.
‘Not too bothered by milestones’
“From a worldly point, people look at milestones and they talk about a lot of things. I know for a fact that I have been involved in big partnerships. Everyone has different points of view and if people are not getting to see me get those big scores, it’s probably down to one’s own expectations and not me and standards of which have not been set randomly.
“So as long as I focus on the right things, I am not too bothered about milestones. We are somehow crazy about milestones and materialistic achievements. I personally don’t think like that and I am batting well and that’s the most important thing for me.”
