Inspiring Respect And Dread

In almost involuntarily drawing traits from his illustrious predecessors and marrying them with his own firm convictions, Virat Kolhi has gradually but seamlessly graduated from a captain to a leader.

- R. Kaushik

In just his first Test as captain, Virat Kohli made three resounding statements. One, that he wasn’t averse to taking left­field, out­of­the­box decisions. Two, that in pursuit of victory, defeat was an acceptable outcome. And three, that he had the mental fortitude to not just insulate his batting from the cares of captaincy, but actually feed off the additional responsibility.

That was a little over four years back, in Adelaide in December 2014, when he was standing in for the injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Leg­spinner Karn Sharma’s shock inclusion — because he was “bowling well at nets” — at the expense of the more pedigreed R. Ashwin was the first indication that Kohli would be his own man. The furious, sustained chase of 364 that fell 48 runs short affirmed an aggressive mien that scoffed at the battening down of the hatches even when the writing was on the wall. And brilliant centuries in both innings confirmed that he had the wherewithal to compartmentalise captaincy and batting.

Little has happened in the intervening period to suggest that Kohli has retracted any of those mantras around which his captaincy revolves. Understandably, with time, he has evolved into a more rounded and less impulsive captain, but his innate positivity remains a glittering calling card that has catapulted him to within two victories of becoming India’s winningest Test skipper.