Kohli & Co.

Virat Kohli just beat Rahul Dravid’s record of the highest runs in a series Vs Aus . He now has more 100s in Aus than Dravid , Ganguly and Sehwag have combined. He has one more 100 than VVS – Aus’s nemesis in 00s and he is one short of Sachin’s 6 100s Vs Aus.

When Sachin hit the international scene at 16 there was much expectation and hope that he will go on to become a cricketing great – though no one could have predicted then what a legend and icon he would turn out to be.

When I saw Dravid bat at Lords in 1996 I was convinced that a wonderful career awaited him but I could not tell how big a role he would go on to play in the dream line up of 00s , essaying many a fine innings and being one of the key men to whom we would go on to attribute our overseas success.

And when VVS made his debut Vs SA ; who knew what a love story he would script with Aus!

Virat Kohli looked out of place in WI – the boy wonder of short-form cricket unable to grasp the hardships of long-form. But we all knew his time would come – and then gritty knocks followed in 2011-12 at Perth and Adelaide. Since then he has not looked back – England was a hiccup but how well has he got over it! 4 100s in 4 tests; 3 of them in his first 3 innings as skipper of a young side!

If you wanted to switch off cricket after your greats quit – Lara, Ponting, Sachin, Dravid, Inzy, VVS, Martyn, Gilchrist,Astle , Kallis – players who kept you wide awake across time zones – you fighting sleep, studies and work to watch them bat; I would suggest you to switch on those television sets again!

I don’t know how big a legend Kohli will be when he hangs his boots – but I would not want to miss his journey of making his own place among the greats in the game; and there are more accompanying him and coming your way to ensure you don’t sleep in the next decade – Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Ajinkya Rahane, David Warner, Agnelo Mathews, Joe Root. This is a fine bunch to look forward to – so don’t give up on cricket yet!