The Agressor

Virat Kholi is a champion with a premonition of his own destiny. He bats- and leads with complete faith that it will come to pass.

- Nasser Hussain

“Tendulkar has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years; it was time we carried him.” Those words were uttered by a young Virat Kohli, who was still to stamp his authority in world cricket, after the ICC World Cup final in 2011. As I watched him score a career best 235 at the same venue five years later, and comfortably clinch the Test series against England, I have no doubt that the baton has been successfully passed from one champion to another. Duncan Fletcher, the former England and India coach, once remarked that he has seen few players with more passion than Kohli, who has the unerring ability and drive to be the best cricketer he can be. A winner every time he goes on to a cricket field.

To me, he is the best run-chaser in One Day cricket, even in the face of other contenders like Michael Bevan, often rated as the best in his time. He is focused, and all that matters to him is to get India over that line. Kohli is a combination of talent, confidence, exceptional ability, great passion and a phenomenal work ethic. I know he loves his football and he reminds me of Cristiano Ronaldo. Both are fighting fit, supremely talented and meticulous in their game plan. I watched Kohli at the nets in Visakhapatnam. He approached the nets session like a Test match, with India’s regular opening bowlers, including Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, bowling a tight fourth stump line outside the off stump. He resisted the temptation to hang his bat out and left ball after ball until the bowlers tired. Anything that was pitched in line with the stumps was played with typical Kohli aggression. If you think of the person he is sometimes made out to be, I was surprised he didn’t show off to his teammates by playing flashy shots and hitting the bowlers around.