It was his first tour to Australia in 2012, and Virat Kohli looked completely out of sorts in the first few games. In Perth, Australia, as they often do, had managed to get under his skin. Not able to handle the heckling, Kohli showed the middle finger to a particularly noisy section of the crowd after they called him a ‘wanker’. The anger (mis)management was a feature of early Kohli, and there were concerns that it would get in the way of a full blossoming of his talent.
Much like Sachin Tendulkar in 1989, he was finding it hard. Sachin felt like a fish out of water in Pakistan in 1989 in the first two matches of his debut series. For Kohli, it was similar in Australia. He wasn’t able to get the measure of the pace and bounce and, ahead of the Perth Test, was experiencing serious self-doubt. The WACA changed it all. A gritty 75 against a very good Australian pace battery, and Kohli felt he belonged. In the next Test, he went one better in Adelaide. A hundred, and there was no looking back.
Now, he has left Adelaide with a duck to his name. Back-to-back noughts, to make matters worse. He has one final game in Sydney today to make amends. Redeem himself and showcase what he has left. Make no mistake, I am not saying he should retire. In fact, I am of the opinion that he should surely be given a cluster of games – nine, to be exact (Australia, South Africa and New Zealand) – and only then can a decision be made. Having said that, today will be his final game on Australian soil. At the hallowed SCG, one of the world’s best cricket grounds, he will bid farewell to a country that has added much gloss to the Kohli cult. Maybe that’s why one wants him to perform. Score runs and make a point.
Yes, there are chinks in his armour. The outside-off-stump issue has meant bowlers know what to do. And after a few in the channel, they will nip one back, and Kohli is a candidate for lbw much like what happened in Adelaide. But then, he is Kohli, a proud legend who knows what it takes to be out there and soak in the pressure. He will want to turn the clock back, and not leave with the ignominy of three consecutive failures to his name. Not that it will tarnish his legend one bit. Kohli, to be fair, will go down as the greatest-ever white-ball 50-overs batter. I say this knowing that it is a tall statement, and that a certain Tendulkar played the sport before him.
Come what may, you want him to perform today. The hand wave can’t be one rooted in pain and agony. You would want him to raise the bat and soak in the applause with runs on the scoreboard. That’s the Kohli we know, and that’s how we would want him to leave Australia. The SCG saw Rohit Sharma sit out in January. Kohli’s final game at the same ground should not be as painful.
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