Virat Kohli: India's Test Torchbearer

If Virat Kohli is by far the biggest name emerging from the Indian cricket team, it is because Kohli has been quick to separate himself from the rest of the herd....

- Sreelata Yellamrazu

India’s tour of South Africa marks the first official Test series for India without the presence and domination of any of the ‘fab four’ of India’s batting. While several contenders have emerged to vie for the top spots, it would appear a clear winner has emerged as the flag bearer for India, particularly in overseas ventures. Setting the trail ablaze once more, Virat Kohli is laying down both, precedent and benchmark, for the young guns of generation next. There is a lesson in his innings at the Wanderers that speaks volumes about the character of the cricketer and his future role in the team. With the home Tests against the West Indies in November, Sachin Tendulkar completed twenty-four years of international cricket. It also marked the last time India would see (the first and) the last of the fab four. With Sourav Ganguly having retired from international cricket in 2008 and Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Tendulkar having now left behind a cricket legacy spanning two decades, India were heading abroad with a complete team makeover. If the South African bowlers were licking their lips, it was easy to sense the vulnerability that twelve months of international cricket abroad and a relatively inexperienced batting prospect would produce. The last time India played a Test series abroad, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team lost to England and Australia by similar 4-0 whitewash margins. Incidentally the Adelaide Test where Kohli scored a fighting century was the last Test India played abroad before arriving in South Africa. India’s late Test win abroad came in 2011 against the West Indies whom India beat by sixty-three runs in Kingston, Jamaica. With a dubious reputation for Test cricket abroad, these would not have been encouraging statistics.