Currently, if cricketing reputations have to be made and legacies burnished, then it mandates fine performances in Australia. Earlier in the 1970s, 1980s and the early part of the 1990s, players earned their stars through their runs and wickets in the West Indies. Virat Kohli surely is aware of the filters that distinguish the great player from the good one.
His first Test century was a 116 against Australia at Adelaide in 2012. It also signalled a passing of the baton in a series that India lost 0-4 to the host. In those contests the trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman struggled to impose their will. A generational change was evident and Kohli led that shift.
Cut to the present, as a 36-year-old senior, having gone through the ups and downs of sport, the waves of adulation and criticism, marriage and fatherhood, captaincy and the present final stretch, Kohli is again reiterating his validity Down Under. His unbeaten 100 against Pat Cummins and his men during the first Test at Perth’s Optus Stadium, was posted after openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and K.L. Rahul laid a firm base. Yet, these were runs that had to be earned against mighty Australian bowlers.
His seventh Test century on Australian shores is another testimony to his skill-set and longevity. Except for one quest to strike the red cherry wide outside the off-stump in the early part of his knock, Kohli was the monk who preferred serenity and later he became the pirate who broke the rules.
This is a batter delving into muscle-memory, adrenaline and the drive to prove that he is second to none. Not exactly an ageing Tendulkar against Dale Steyn, but Kohli still finds ways to stay relevant even if his numbers over the last few years may not entirely do justice to his talent.
This 30th Test hundred is a significant milestone in terms of numbers and for having gone past Don Bradman’s 29 tons. More importantly for India, the optics were the key. To wrest a three-figure yield in the first Test against the doughty Aussies is a message that the old lion still has the hunger and the roar.
Somehow being in Australia draws the best out of Kohli, it is a land where he could chew nails for fun, say the odd expletive, play tough, blow kisses to his spouse and have a laugh. His unbeaten 82 against Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup game at Melbourne in 2022 is the stuff of legend.
If in his early days, extreme aggression caused his downfall, in these mellow years, his exits are often linked to a tentative approach. Australian newspapers have played him up as the top box-office draw in this Southern summer even as Jaiswal and Jasprit Bumrah have marked their territory. Perhaps a baton is being passed, but in the here and now, Kohli is critical to India’s fortunes.
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