When a cricketer retires, everyone lauds their career. But there are some who have accomplished so much, and yet people say, ‘Oh, what it could have been.’ Virat Kohli falls in the second category. Earlier today, the former India captain bid Test cricket adieu.
He’ll forever be remembered as India’s greatest Test captain. Remembered for his passion, grit and determination. His desire is not just to be the best but to make India the best. No one can change this. His late-career decline can’t dent his legacy. No one can discount his perfect peak. His 68 wins as India’s captain will be remembered for decades. His hundreds in England, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand won’t ever be forgotten. That will be his legacy.
Kohli doesn’t regret anything. He knew he gave Test cricket his all. But his admirers are greedy. And every cricket and Kohli fan, who I am, is greedy. One knows there were things he could have achieved. Unfortunately that can’t happen. Not anymore.
10,000 runs
In Test cricket’s 148-year history, only 15 batters have managed to scale the 10000-run mountain. Just three Indians, Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid, have managed to do so. Kohli was ever so close to becoming the 16th man. He needed a mere 770 runs to achieve that milestone. One hoped that he’d get there, but the Covid pandemic, his late career struggles and now his Test retirement didn’t allow him to get there.
36 hundreds
By the end of 2019, Kohli had scored 27 hundreds. He needed just 10 more hundreds to get to 36 Test centuries. This particular number is significant. That’s because Gavaskar, who was the first man to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket, has 35 Test centuries. Kohli had 4.5 years to achieve this. But unfortunately, he scored just 3 more to end at 30 hundreds. He would have been among India’s three best Test batters, statistically, had this happened.
Conquering South Africa, New Zealand and England as captain
Most people remember Virat Kohli, the captain before Virat Kohli, the batter. And there is a reason for that. Under his beating, India in India was impossible. And he also becomes the first Asian captain to win a Test series in Australia. However, he wasn’t able to win a series in South Africa, New Zealand and England. He came close a few times, but it just wasn’t to be. This is perhaps what stopped many from labelling him the greatest Test captain ever.
Unable to win WTC mace
Kohli played a major role in the creation of the World Test Championship (WTC). Had he, being the most influential cricketer in the world, not shown interest in Test cricket, who knows where the sport would have been? But Kohli showed his passion for Test cricket; he wore it on his sleeve. He only got a crack at winning the WTC mace once, in 2021. And India was the best team then. But New Zealand didn’t allow him to his joy.
Inability to fix outside off issue
Kohli has himself talked about being a limited batter. Cuts and sweeps weren’t his things. But he made up for these deficiencies by being a master in other shots like cover drives and flicks. His outside the off stump issues were always there. It was always a way to get him out.
But barring England 2014, no one could do much about it. After 2020, that wasn’t the case. He constantly got out that way. It was frustrating to watch. In his last series, all of his dismissals were to balls outside off. One wonders, would he have retired had he fixed this issue?
Unfortunate to not play against Pakistan
Tendulkar, Dravid and Gavaskar are undoubtedly three of India’s greatest Test batters. And all of them faced the Pakistan cricket team. Fourth or fifth best; if one rates Virender Sehwag higher, Kohli didn’t. Due to the relationship between the two nations, Kohli never played them regularly in any format. And not once in Test cricket.
Five of Gavaskar’s 34 and Rahul’s 36 hundreds came against Pakistan. Tendulkar didn’t fare that well against them, but even he scored 1 hundred and averaged over 40. It’s a shame that Kohli never got a chance to face India’s arch-rival, Pakistan, in Test cricket.
Virat Kohli retires with 6 blemishes on his otherwise near-perfect Test legacy Inside Sport India.
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