Virat Kohli – Slaying all his inner demons

There are batsmen who own the crease and everything in its vicinity the minute they come out to bat. Read Chris Gayle, Shane Watson, Kieron Pollard, Kevin Pietersen. And then there are batsmen like RahulDravid Jacques Kallis – batsmen who nonchalantly but effectively go about their business; men you could trust your life with. Somewhere in the middle of these two extremes, lie the kind of batsmen who can do anything – the likes of AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli.

A typical modern day cricketer, Virat Kohli burst into the scene in 2008, when he led India to victory in the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. Following a highly productive domestic season, littered with innumerable big scores and match winning performances, he found himself banging on the doors of the selection committee. An India cap seemed imminent, and once selected, Kohli did not disappoint. However, his uncontrolled aggression and flaring temper brought about the impression that he was brash, impulsive, impatient and downright arrogant. Struggling to cope with the immense pressure of playing cricket at the highest level, coupled with the fame and incredible adulation that accompanies any international cricketer, Kohli lost his consistency, and soon his place in the ODI team.

And then, Kohli’s attitude changed radically. “I didn’t feel like hanging out with friends or going for a party. For one and a half years, I was in the gym, the field, or practising. I would come back and lie down, thinking that I should get 10 hours of proper sleep for my body. My only aim was to get back into the team.” His efforts bore positive results. Once he made his comeback, there was no looking back. Once the records started tumbling, there was no stopping.

Over the next three years, he outscored all his Indian teammates by a long margin, making 2010, 2011 and 2012 his own. The fastest Indian cricketer to reach the 1000, 3000, and 4000 run mark in ODIs, Kohli displayed remarkable reliability and the unique, almost surreal talent to assess every situation perfectly and take his team past the finish line. An average of 77.55 in wins batting second exemplifies exactly that ability. His ODI record is jaw dropping – 4054 runs at an outrageous average of 49.43, with 13 centuries, speaks volumes of his obvious class. After all, no current Indian middle order batsman has made more ODI tons than him. Consequent to his astonishing success in 2012, his crowning of ICC’s ODI cricketer of the year was a mere formality.