What makes Virat Kohli a special player?

15 August, 2012

Of late, Virat Kohli has been scoring runs very consistently, instilling fear among his opponents. But what has made this player so special in a span of just five years; CJ Ashim Sunam spoke to Lalchand Rajput and Anshuman Gaekwad to find out.

VIRAT KOHLI is the most talked about batsman in Indian cricket at present. Yes, even more than Sachin Tendulkar and V. Sehwag. In fact, he has got the entire world talking about his performances. His last 10 innings score reads 21, 133*, 108, 66, 183, 106, 1, 38, 128* and 23. He has scored 4 centuries in his last 10 innings. A former Indian coach, Lalchand Rajput says, “He is very hungry for runs. He is never satisfied with whatever he scores. This is a hallmark of a great cricketer.”

He has been a player who has come out of the ranks of the U-19 category, which he also captained to the status of World Champions. Since then he has never looked back. With consistent performances in the domestic circuit, the selectors could not ignore him. He made his debut for India in 2008. Rajput says, He has matured a lot as a cricketer. He looks more focused.” Hence, “he has become a consistent player too.

He has always been a talented player from his juniour days. But talent alone does not take you places.Take for instance, Rohit Sharma. He had been touted as the next big thing to Indian cricket for such a long period, but he failed to deliver. One needs to put in tremendous effort during practise session in the nets, take care of one's fitness, which Virat has been good at. Hence, look where Virat and Rohit stand, though they were on the same platform five years ago. Anshuman Gaekwad, former Indian cricketer is amazed by Virat's shot selection, which has helped him score huge runs for India. But it is the same shot selection, which Rohit Sharma has been very careless about and eventually led to his downfall.

Gaekwad says, “After he has been handed over the vice-captainship responsibility of the Indian team, he has enhanced his performance.” This clearly shows that he has been able to handle the vice captaincy role very positively. Not all the players have the mental toughness to perform when there is an added responsibility showered upon them. Even Sachin Tendulkar's performances saw a dip when he was the captain of the Indian team. So, Is Kohli the right person to lead the Indian team in the near future? The former cricketer says, “It is best for him not to think about the captaincy.

But Gaekwad wants Kohli to remain grounded with such high quality performances. “He needs to relax mentally and should not get overconfident.” feels Gaekwad. Cricket is a very funny game, which can make you a hero one day and the next day you could be a villain. He has to make the best use of the purple patch that he has been going through. With a sound of caution, Gaekwad adds, “ You cannot remain aggressive all the time.” He refers to the example of Sachin Tendulkar who was aggressive in his early days, but has subdued himself, but still scores consistently. So, Virat also needs to change his game accordingly to be ranked as one of India's greats.

In spite of his huge success in the ODI format, he has not been that impressive in the longer format of the game, Test matches. He needs to work on his skills to prove himself as a Test cricketer. He has not played more than 10 Test matches, so there is a long way to go for Virat. Gaekwad says, “It is a mental block. ODI's are different. It is a waiting game.”As mentioned earlier, he needs to change his game according to the situation and if he does that, he is sure to establish himself as a great cricketer. But, with the player improving with each and every outing, the time is not far off, when we would see the Delhi lad making life difficult for bowlers in white clothing too.