Indian cricket’s batting starlet Virat Kohli has become a dominating force in world cricket. His cricket wisdom and his prolific batting left the world gave a shocker. Even the cricket spectators couldn’t believe this the Delhi dasher scores faster than the legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar. Cricket writers often compare him with retired Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who scored a plethora of runs for Team India in Test and ODI cricket. Followed by his retirement in 2013 India got another star in the form of Virat Kohli, who made his debut in One Day Cricket in 2008 while in Test cricket in 2011.
When Virat made his debut in international cricket he got a nervy start. To score his maiden ODI hundred he took thirteen matches while in Test cricket he needed sixteen innings. However, whenever he got the going he bruised aside the bowlers across the world.
In 2016 he scored 1215 runs in 12 Test matches at an average of 75.93. His swashbuckling performance in Test cricket made him the highest scorer in Test cricket in 2016. In ODI cricket he scored 739 runs in 10 matches at an average of 100 while in T20 cricket he redefined the batting. In the ninth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), the Royal Challengers of Bangalore (RCB) star’s batting grandeur made the 2016 IPL a remarkable edition. Kohli in 16 matches accumulated 973 runs at an average of 81.08 with four hundred and seven fifties. Before the IPL he blasted Australia Down Under as he scored 199 runs in three matches at an average of 199. In the WT20 he scored 273 in five matches at an average of 136.
In the recently concluded series against England, he scored 655 runs in five matches at an average of 109.16. He scored one hundred and another double hundred. With his Mumbai Test double ton, he entered the elite list of Donald Bradman as he scored three triple double hundred in a year.
So, a batsman of Virat Kohli’s stature was once asked to touch the feet of ‘Little Master’ of Indian cricket Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar before his international debut. A rookie, nerve wrecked Virat Kohli was sitting at a corner of the Indian dressing room, but we know how the Indian dressing room is. They know how to break the ice of a debutante. So a bunch of young and experienced cricketers headed towards Virat Kohli to school him. They told him that the God of Indian cricket Sachin Tendulkar was calling him.
Now Virat Kohli, who won the U-19 World Cup in as a captain, always dreamt of meeting his childhood hero Sachin Tendulkar. So when the young cricketers told him to meet Sachin, the little boy went to the master of all batsmen. Sachin asked whether he want something; Virat replied. Then Sachin broke the ice of ‘New Little Master’ of Indian cricket as he laughed and said, “dude you have been pranked-welcome to the Indian Cricket Team.” When this was happening the young cricketers burst into laugh outside of the door.
After this scene, Virat started mimicking his childhood hero, but the success didn’t come. In the 2014 England series, possibly the worst series in Virat’s career, his highest score was 39 in four-Test series. So after the end of this unsuccessful tour dented Virat Kohli didn’t go home as he directly landed in Mumbai and trained with Sachin Tendulkar. The first thing Tendulkar told him that ‘stop copying me’. Sachin’s words and tips helped Virat a lot. The failure in 2014 England series gave the world a star as Virat started dominating the world across the formats.
Now former Australian captain Michael Clarke declared Virat Kohli as the best of all blokes in contemporary cricket. Virat shared sweet rivalries with his contemporary counterparts Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Joe Root respectively. In 2016 he surpassed all of them. When Root found the subcontinent pitches were difficult to cope with, Williamson scored a hundred after three series in almost two years. Australian captain Steve Smith also has had a nightmarish series against Sri Lanka and South Africa in 2016. At the age of 28 Virat now has 50 plus average in all three formats of cricket. He is also the holder of the most number of hundred in ODI cricket amongst the contemporary cricketers.
No doubt Virat Kohli perfectly filled the void of Sachin Tendulkar in world cricket. And to fulfill this task Sachin guided Virat whenever he seeks his advice.
