His team's fate in balance and father's body at home, an 18-year-old saved the day for Delhi. Former Delhi captain Mithun Manhas remembers that innings
Those present at Feroz Shah Kotla for the Delhi-Karnataka Ranji Trophy tie can never forget how at the start of his first-class career, Virat Kohli’s resolve was put to the ultimate test.
Virat Kohli will play his 100th Test on Friday against Sri Lanka. (Getty)
Openers Aakash Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan were out for zero and eight respectively, captain Mithun Manhas had fallen on four and Delhi were 59/5 chasing Karnataka’s first innings total of 446. In his first season of first-class cricket, an 18-year-old Kohli was fighting back with support from another youngster, Punit Bisht. At stumps on that December day in 2006, the two had taken the score to 103/5 with Kohli batting on 40 and Bisht on 28.
“We had lost our top order cheaply so we were just discussing how to go about it… if he (Kohli) negotiates the first 10-15 overs then we could fight back because we didn’t have much batting after that. The first session is going to be very important because of the conditions,” is how Manhas remembered the dressing room conversation from that evening.
When Manhas reached Kotla on the third day, he was surprised to find Kohli there. “On match days, I had a habit of reaching the ground early, to have a look at the pitch when the covers come off, just have a feel of the conditions. That day, I was again early and saw this young man sitting at a table with his head down, eyes red.
‘I will play’
“I asked Kohli: ‘What happened, why are you worried. He just said: ‘My father died’. I didn’t know how to react. I just told him, ‘listen, if you are not in a proper state of mind, go home. We will speak to the selectors, the match referee and everyone. These are extraordinary circumstances, whatever we can do for you let us know.’ That’s how we consoled him,” said Manhas.
“He was crying but said, ‘no, I will play,” recalled Manhas. The Delhi captain said Kohli told him he didn’t want to go back to a grieving home. Manhas remembered Kohli saying that his father wanted him to play and that his brother had told him he would take care of everything. “This is one thing which will keep me occupied, ‘jab tak khelta rahoonga, tab tak dhyaan nahin jayega (till I am batting, I won’t think about my father’s death),’” said Manhas. “He did exactly that.”
“Even, at this point of time, at this age (Manhas is 42), if I hear something like this or anything like this happens in our family, I know I we will be in a shambles. This was special coming from an 18-year-old,” said Manhas.
Soon, word spread at the ground. The umpires and Karnataka players knew what had happened when Kohli came to the crease. “The most important thing was he was composed. It didn’t look as if something had happened,” said Manhas. The Delhi captain still marvels at how Kohli “just kept playing normally.” Maybe he had shut out the bereavement and was just reacting to what was happening on the ground, said Manhas. “I can only assume because I didn’t have the strength to ask, ‘how did you play such an innings?’ We just kept quiet. You can’t do much in such situations; you can just let them be. The whole team was behind him.”
Kohli’s innings of 90 ended to a doubtful decision in the 82nd over. He had added 148 runs with Bisht. The team’s objective achieved, Kohli left the ground immediately to attend his father’s funeral. “He changed the game for us,” said Manhas. With Bisht carrying on to make 156, Delhi finished on 308 and managed to save the game.
That day, the Delhi team saw Kohli’s focus, his hunger, said Manhas. “Plus he did it for his father and is still doing it for his father.”
Throw him a challenge
Manhas said he knows what makes Kohli tick. The two shared many partnerships for Delhi batting at No 4 and 5. As Kohli plays his 100th Test in Mohali from Friday, the cricket world is puzzling over why his conversion rate has dipped and the hundreds—the last one came in November, 2019—have dried up.
For his former Delhi captain, who has 27 first-class hundreds (9714 runs), Kohli is always about a challenge. “With players like him, you don’t have to talk about their game; just throw them a challenge. This is my feeling. I have watched him from childhood,” said Manhas.
No one’s talking about Steve Smith or Babar Azam as batters in the Kohli mould anymore, said Manhas. Revive the conversation about who is the best and Kohli will be ready, he said.
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