At 35, Virat Kohli has established himself as a bonafide legend of the game. For the longest time, the mystery to the puzzle ‘Who after Sachin Tendulkar?’ remained unanswered, until Kohli came and changed it. Not only has he risen to that level, but Kohli, if many are to be believed, has surpassed the level of greatness which even Sachin enjoyed. Anyway, the debate between Kohli and Tendulkar is an ongoing one, but regardless of whether it’ll ever be put to rest, one thing is certain. Kohli is an icon. Kohli is loyalty.
Many reckon Kohli’s path to immortality began in 2012, when his unbeaten 133 at Hobart helped India chase down 321 inside 37 overs. Or the Asia Cup in the same year, when his 183 not out against Pakistan took India home. Or when he decided to leave behind his unhealthy eating habits and embarked upon the next stage of his career that saw him evolve from being a youngster into arguably the greatest batter of his generation. Or lastly, that three-year golden run between 2016 and 2018, where batting wise, everything he touched turned into gold – be it the record-breaking IPL season, or the three centuries on the tour of England.
The answer surprisingly is none of the above, at least for Harbhajan Singh. The former India spinner, who shared the dressing room with Kohli for a good 7-8 years, goes back to 2008 and recalls when a young Kohli, in his debut series for India, was not satisfied despite scoring a brilliant half-century in just his fifth ODI. The opponent was Sri Lanka and the venue R Premadasa Stadium. Kohli, opening the innings, was coming off scores of 12, 37 and 25, with Harbhajan recalling what transpired in that game.
“I remember this one incident. Viru [Virender Sehwag] had gotten injured I supposed. [Ajantha] Mendis was getting everyone out. He comes in; young guy, free energy. He batted and scored a fifty. He asked me ‘Paaji, how did I play? I said, ‘Very well’. He then said ‘Paaji, I shouldn’t have gotten out, should have smacked him more’. Loved the attitude,” he told Taruwar Kohli on the latter’s podcast.
Mendis has wreaked havoc on the Indian batters around the same time. In the Test series that preceded the ODIs, the Sri Lankan mystery spinner had picked up 23 wickets in three matches with two 5-wicket-hauls and was proving to be a thorn in India’s eyes even in the 50-overs format. He had scalped 6/13 in the final of the 2008 Asia Cup and had taken eight wickets during the first three ODIs.
When Virat Kohli doubted whether he belongs in the big league
Harbhajan narrated one more incident, this time his mind fast-forwarding by three years to Kohli’s Test debut in 2011. The youngster has struggled against West Indies, managing just 76 runs from five innings across three Tests. His scores read 4, 15, 0, 27 and 30, and although he grew in confidence with each inning and looked more assured than his previous outing, Kohli cut a forlorn figure. As Harbhajan revealed, the failures had shaken up Kohli’s confidence, to the extent that the batter started second-guessing himself.
“If I tell you something about his Test cricket, at the very beginning. We were in West Indies. On that tour, Fidel Edwards (former West Indies quick) had troubled him a lot, getting him out either LBW or against the short ball. He was getting out time and again, so obviously was very disappointed. He had self-doubt, questioned ‘If I am good enough?’ I told him ‘You will shame yourself if you don’t score 10000 runs. You have the capability of scoring 10000 runs in Test cricket. And if you don’t, it’ll be because of your own fault’. After that, what Kohli has done is a once-in-a-lifetime exception,” Bhajji, who claimed India’s first Test hat-trick, mentioned.
From that young kid in Barbados, Kohli has indeed come a long way 13 years later. In this while, Kohli took his batting to unprecedented heights, smashed countless records, became the face of Indian cricket and its most successful Test captain. The desire and hunger to break out of the usual, Harbhajan insists, is what made Kohli different back then and separates him from his peers even now. Kohli currently sits at 8848 runs in Test cricket from 113 matches, but with a long season ahead, he is expected to scale Mt. 10K sooner than later.
“I have seen him change. His diet, his mindset – ‘That I don’t want to be just an ordinary player. I want to be someone who people will know for a long time’. The stubbornness I saw in myself, Kohli has a lot more of it. I want to be that guy winning games and scoring hundreds for India. He was scoring hundreds back-to-back in Australia. It was the first time India chasing 400 runs… and they are going after it. We may lose but we’ll fight. That attitude of keep going, that’s what makes you a player. Kohli has left an everlasting impact on Indian cricket,” added Harbhajan.
