Virat Kohli 3.0: Older and wiser, but the fire burns bright

The ‘Virat Kohli effect’ seems to be taking hold of Indian cricket again. The ongoing Ashes series, which may be seeing a contest of far greater quality, failed to overshadow the man’s sense of occasion at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad on Friday – yet another hundred in what is his 500th appearance for India across all formats.

It’s century No.29 for ‘King Kohli’ in Tests – a feat which takes him at par with Sir Don Bradman’s number of tons – and 76th in international cricket. In less than a year since Kohli broke that agonising drought over 1021 days for a three-figure knock with one against Afghanistan in the last Asia Cup, the modern day master has scored six centuries in international cricket so far – not to speak three more in the last IPL.

Has Kohli then, as the cliché goes, been able to turn the clock back to the 2016-2017 seasons where he hardly put a foot wrong? It will be presumptious to say so as age mellows down and changes the approach of every great batter on view, but suffice to say that the former Indian captain has managed to conquer his demons and got back to doing what he knows best – scoring runs.

In an interview with the broadcasters during last IPL, Kohli had opened up about that prolonged period of struggle and revealed about reaching a point where he felt it could be his last month of competitive cricket when he took an extended break ahead of the 2022 Asia Cup. ‘’There were no technical issues because I have done this for 15 years. It can’t be that all went to a standstill and the technical issues pop out right now. When I came back fresh and started hitting the ball again and people were like ‘oh you made some serious changes.’ But I didn’t pick up the bat for six weeks,’’ he said in an interview.

If the break in the middle of last year was something which helped Kohli re-energise himself, the other factor which certainly helped was being freed of all forms of captaincy – albeit under different circumstances. This is where the irony lies for Kohli’s passion and readiness to plunge in to the longer format of the game, not to speak of the famous work ethic, is raising loud enough calls to convince him to take over the captain’s mantle again in Tests.

Looking back at his two innings in the Caribbean so far, there would be no dearth of cynics questioning the quality of the attack that the Indian batters were up against. It’s true that virtually none of the West Indian bowlers could ask him questions, but the cornerstone of his effort of 121 tells you a story – it comprised of 77 runs from singles, doubles and triples in rather energy sapping conditions. Now 35 and with 15 years of international cricket already behind him – and not much left to prove – it’s this hunger for success at the top level which has set Kohli apart.

There was a time not too long ago when Kohli held the top spot in the ICC batter’s rankings in all three formats – but not anymore – though it’s unlikely that a calmer and more matured Kohli gives much currency to that. He is out of top 10 in Tests and T20s (14th in both), while he is eighth in the ODIs – and it remains to be seen how long one seems him and Rohit Sharma in the T20 scheme of things.

Much like Sachin Tendulkar in the final phase of his career, Kohli now commands more a sense of awe and respect from his opponents. There is this story doing the rounds about how much of an unabashed admirer he has in the young West Indies keeper Joshua Da Silva who said he egged on Kohli to get to his 29th hundred. Joshua, in fact, went a step further when he introduced his mother to Kohli after the day’s play at the stadium – and it was a sheer fangirl moment for her.

There in lies the essence of Virat Kohli 3.0 for you. If the first phase was that of an emerging star, the next that of a reigning deity of world cricket and fiercely competitive captain and now an elder statesperson of the game.

Carry on, King Kohli…