A decade since Test cricket met Virat Kohli

On the 10th anniversary of his Test debut, SIMON HUGHES asks Sunil Gavaskar and Dinesh Karthik how Kohli has become one of the greatest multi-format cricketers of all time

Only one cricketer has ever made it on to the Forbes list of highest-paid sportsmen in the world. That man is Virat Kohli, who on Sunday, celebrates 10 years as a Test player. With estimated annual earnings of around $30million, Kohli currently sits at No.59 in the Forbes list, slightly below Novak Djokovic, slightly above Jordan Spieth. European footballers, NBA and NFL players dominate the list, but Kohli has climbed from 85th to 59th as his fame and influence grows. He is still a long way, however, from the man he idolises the most – Cristiano Ronaldo (No.3, annual earnings $120million).

It is odd watching a megastar battling the nagging New Zealand medium-pacers in front of a few thousand at the Ageas Bowl on the second day of the World Test Championship final, but there are many strange paradoxes in the world of cricket, not least the sight of the teams going off for bad light with the floodlights blazing.

But two hours of Kohli’s skill at negotiating the moving ball was a connoisseur’s delight. The way all the Indian batsmen – apart from Cheteshwar Pujara – stood well outside their crease to combat the swing and seam illustrated his vast influence. He successfully used that approach himself to combat Jimmy Anderson’s threat in 2018 having averaged just 13.4 on his previous visit to England in 2014.

Despite that low point, Kohli’s rise has been mostly inexorable. His Test debut, on June 20, 2011, was an inauspicious beginning: dismissed for four, caught by West indies keeper Carlton Baugh chasing a wide one from Fidel Edwards. He fared little better in the second innings, caught down the legside off the same bowler for 15.

By his eighth Test, against Australia at the Adelaide Oval, he really began to command attention, upstaging a stellar Indian batting line-up that included Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, to be last man out for 116, his maiden Test century. The ferocity with which he hit the ball that day – and celebrated his hundred – marked him out as a player with special attitude.

It was not insignificant that Ricky Ponting made 221 in the first innings of that match. Many great sportsmen derive inspiration from masters they have played against and therefore observed – often exhaustingly - at first hand. Kohli has added 26 more Test centuries since, included seven doubles, and an amazing 43 hundreds in limited-over internationals. He has made over 22,000 runs in all international cricket, and averages over 50 in every format (in ODIs almost 60).

That elevates him above all other batting superstars. No one else has really got close to these prolific levels in every version of the game (Steve Smith, for instance, while exceeding Kohli’s Test record, averages only 43 in ODIs and 27 in T20Is). Kohli’s hunger not only for runs, but to be not out and see his team home in eery format of the game, is unparalleled. He has 73 not outs from his 480-odd international innings, a phenomenally high percentage, especially for someone who bats in the top four. This also helps boost your average, of course, not that Kohli would have been thinking about that.

^{Virat Kohli replaced MS Dhoni as India's Test captain}

What are the real ingredients of his success? Two men well-qualified to answer that question are Sunil Gavaskar, India’s original run-machine and the first to 10,000 Test runs, and the wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, a contemporary who has played almost 60 times with Kohli for India. Both are in Southampton commentating for ICC on the World Test Championship final.

“He first made a real impact on me when he got 133 not out against Sri Lanka in 2012,” Gavaskar told The Analyst Inside Cricket podcast. “Lasith Malinga was in his pomp bowling all those yorkers, and he was stepping down and making them into full tosses and flicking them to leg or driving them straight. He was unstoppable (India reached the target of 321 only three wickets down with 13 overs to spare).

“Generally in any format, his assessment of the situation, knowing how to pace his innings, is outstanding. And his footwork stands out for its simplicity, when he’s going forward or back – especially against the spinners - and his balance at the crease. He’s very much a self-made batsman, but he’s technically very sound. He’s got all the shots, but even in the limited-over game you very rarely see him go for the aerial shot. He plays error-free cricket and that’s why he’s so consistent. He’s so quick between the wickets too and he doesn’t get tired. That’s the beauty of his cricket. He’s not satisfied until the job is done.”

“His hunger to succeed is incredible,” says Karthik. “He’s found ways on and off the field to be the champion cricketer he is. He hasn’t changed much in his batting from the under-19 days. Simple movements are still the same. When he has the occasional slump he is able to bounce back very quickly because his core game hasn’t changed.

“He was very determined to erase the memory of his problems against James Anderson in 2014 so when he came to England in 2018, he batted out of his crease and the thing he didn’t want to do was get out nicking off. He wanted to know exactly where his off-stump was and he conquered the ability to play an 86mph bowler standing outside the crease.  No bowler has consistently troubled him.” It’s true. Even Anderson has only got him out five times in 20 Tests.

^{How many records could Kohli break by the time he finishes?}

“Also, we all know he is supremely fit, but he follows his fitness regimen and his diet to a T. He used to have a sweet tooth, but now he doesn’t touch an aerated drink, or any fatty food, he does exactly what is needed to be a supreme athlete. He has seen how Ronaldo pushes himself on the field when others are a bit tired and he’s taken a leaf out of that book.”

So it’s his combination of smooth, uncomplicated skills, total ambition, clear focus and the fitness dedication and abstinence of an Olympic athlete – all of which were clearly on display at the Ageas Bowl – that drives him to these heights of performance. Surely then he must be quite an intense bloke to share a dressing room with? No, says Karthik.

“He’s a supremely talented fellow – he sings very beautifully, he dances as well as anybody, he picks up things very fast. For all his endorsements, he does things that proper actors do – reciting lines, doing close-up shots. But actually he’s very fun-loving as well. He cracks a lot of jokes, he’s very relaxed, chilled-out guy of the field, fun to be around.”

So, Mr Gavaskar, can he become the most prolific international batsman the world has seen, like you once were? “He’s only 32, and with his fitness he could easily go on for another six or seven years like Tendulkar, and if he does that then certainly all the batting records should be his!” And by then, he should be very rich indeed.