It's the first day of the first test match of India's tour of SA, you wait for it to begin with anticipation and also with a very typical expectation. An expectation of green tracks, a fired up Dale Steyn and an Indian batting collapse. Let's face it, India have never really looked dominant in any such away tour on the first day of the first test. A similar thing happened yesterday. But, it wasn't all that bad. Kudos to probably the best batsman in the current XI, Virat Kohli, who stepped up to the task like a champion.
I've had the privilege of watching Kohli grow and emerge as one of India's finest right from the start of his career, this is something I didn't have regarding most of my Cricketing heroes. Kohli had a mild start in that debut ODI series in SL. There wasn't a big debut 100 to show off the Kohli swagger. He was in and out of the team. He didn't seem to be that child prodigy which a lot of people believed he would be, especially on the back of that emphatic U-19 World Cup win. After a few games he was dropped, and that's where I believe his real temperament was tested. He made a great comeback in 2009 by scoring a ton load of runs in domestic cricket, and hasn't looked back since. Making a comeback isn't easy after you've been dropped immediately after getting a taste of international Cricket. It is times like these when talent doesn't solve things for you. You need a solid temperament to back that up. And when you have an outstanding temperament which chases 320 in 40 overs, or hooks a 145 kph bouncer from Dale Steyn at 200 kph in front of square, or the one which adapts to the alien South African conditions in a flash and scores a test 100 in the very first test; very few things can go wrong.
There are a lot more accolades Kohli has than what I've just mentioned, and all of them are exceptional in their own rights. I've seen that 183 against Pakistan while chasing a stiff target in Mirpur, that 133* against SL when India chased 320 under 40 overs in Hobart, and almost all of his other match winning ODI centuries. Every big knock of his has given all of us immense pleasure and that realization that we are witnessing someone really special. But, for me that 119 yesterday against SA at Johannesburg really stands out. That innings just gave me the confirmation that he really can take on the world, and can score heavily outside the subcontinent in Test Cricket. The off stump awareness, the shot selection, the back foot play, the maturity everything was top notch. India needed that hundred from him, especially when they were 24-2 with a fired up Morkel and Steyn when he came out to bat. He rose to the occasion and delivered, which really has become a habit now. That innings spoke volumes about how exceptional Kohli's growth in maturity has been. He was prudent in his shot selection, he was ready to defend and see off a good spell and he was also prepared to wait for the poor deliveries to attack. You look at the other wickets that fell and the poor shots the other batsmen played, and that's when the difference in maturity between Kohli and the other batsmen would become evident to you. I believe, his maturity is probably his biggest asset apart from his talent and temperament, which has been instrumental in promoting Kohli from being 'the next big thing' to actually being 'the big thing'.
Having said all this, when you talk about Virat Kohli you never just speak about his batting, do you? There's always that little mockery of the MC-BC or of his TDC-like attitude involved as well. It's sad Kohli has had to be a victim of such mockery or criticism. We all are in awe of the Dravids and the Tendulkars, aren't we? We should be. But, I believe that it is very wrong to expect every good player to have that similar gentleman like attitude. I know, that such an attitude with ability to play hard Cricket is a real respectful combination. But, I am not very sure that such an attitude is a 'must have' for someone to be a legend of the game, especially in modern day Cricket. The amount of Cricket the current players play and the amount of scrutiny they are under is just too much, and they are bound to get frustrated and lose their cool sometimes. There's nothing wrong in abusing on the Cricket field. Everyone does that. We've got to accept this trait in the transition to modern day Cricket. If you can accept a newspaper with a front page full of commercials, this shouldn't be too much to ask :P. Okay, now that was bad. So, I'll end.
