My Thoughts

If someone had told me in 2019 that Virat Kohli will end up with an average under 50 and will score less than 10K Test runs, I wouldn’t have believed them. That pretty much sums up Virat Kohli’s Test career which started off slow, peaked for 6 years and ended with prolonged slump which lasted for another 6 years. The result being a good Test career which fell shy of being a great one.

I still remember Virat’s entry into the Test team, that was a time when breaking into the Indian middle order was almost impossible. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman were still scoring runs and breaking into that line up wasn’t easy. Virat got his chance in West Indies in 2011 against the West Indies where a few players decided to rest after winning the World Cup. Virat had a forgettable series then but everyone knew that he was going to take Indian cricket by storm in the coming years. In the year 2013 when a young team under MS Dhoni left for South Africa with a young squad, the era of Virat Kohli had finally begun. Even though India lost that series, Virat Kohli showed what he is capable of in Test cricket as a batter. A batter with good technique who could take on the best bowlers in the world.

Despite the horror show in England in 2014, Virat Kohli for the next 6 years was incredible in Tests. He not only scored runs at will, he was doing it at a rate which was phenomenal to watch for the fans and envious for the rest of the cricketing world. He was also doing something which none of his peers were able to achieve, scoring runs in all 3 formats with incredible consistency. From December 2013 till November 2019, Virat averaged 59 with 23 hundreds in 64 Tests. An incredible peak where he scored runs against all opponents and in all countries he batted in. He was doing this while also averaging 50+ in T20s and ODIs at the same time. He also took over the captaincy of the Test team during this period and took India to the next level in Tests.

The Indian test team during his reign as the captain was probably going through a golden era in the format. A team which never lost at home for a decade and also challenged the best in the world away. A team which finally realised how important it is to have a good pace attack to compete in the format and developed a great all round attack. The pace bowlers along with two great spinners made it impossible for the visiting teams to compete in India. Virat’s biggest legacy is how he turned around the careers of Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. For a period of 5 years Indian pacers were the best in the world. The combination of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami took loads of wickets at an incredible average making them the best pace bowling trio in the world during that time.

Virat also inspired an entire generation of cricketers with his fitness and discipline. While things were going great for Virat till that time, his batting slump post November 2019 was bit of a surprise. A batting slump which was so relentless that it did not let up for almost 6 years till his retirement. Virat had 27 Test hundreds in 84 Tests till November 2019 but managed to score just 3 more in his last 39 Tests. His average dipped from a great 54.97 to 46.85 during those 6 years. While Virat Kohli is a legend of India cricket, his Test career though as a batter falls short of greatness. A fantastic player who was expected to at least get to ten thousand test runs at an average of 50+.

Virat now retires from the game with 9230 runs at an average of 46.85 with 30 hundreds. A record which is very good but again as a fan a bit disappointing considering the talent he possessed. A great of Indian cricket and an inspirational leader, I would miss Virat Kohli as a captain of the Test team more than the batter he became during the last phase of his career. Virat Kohli’s retirement is a bit of an anti-climax as he did deserve to have a send off befitting a player of his legacy but again the struggles of the Test team probably has hastened his decision. If probably India’s next series were at home, both Rohit and Virat might have played the series as a farewell. Virat will be sorely missed and his retirement on the back of Rohit Sharma’s exit leaves a big hole in the Test line up but again all good things should come to an end. I congratulate Virat on a great Test career and even though he will still continue to play ODIs and IPL, not seeing him in whites will be sad.

Even though Virat’s Test career as a batter did fall short of greatness, he for sure is an Indian legend and has given us numerous great memories in Tests and that is what we will carry with us as fans.