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Virat Kohli pulled the plug on an illustrious Test career on Monday, announcing his exit from the longest format as India embarks on a fresh World Test Championship cycle.
Dwindling returns in recent years and a tame show in Australia, perhaps his favourite hunting ground away from home, at the turn of the year proved the last straw to call it a day.
Since 2021, Kohli has averaged less than 32 across 63 innings and has put up only 11 scores of 50 or more, highlighting the sharp decline from his lofty standards. A dip in output at a time when his contemporaries, Joe Root and Steve Smith, for instance, were thriving under a second wind, only compounded Kohli’s lack of touch.
But even an insipid end barely took the sheen off his almost 14-year run in Tests.
Though shades of his brilliance had been on display by then, Kohli burst onto the fold during the 2014 tour to Australia when he commanded Mitchell Johnson, who had played the tormentor-in-chief against England in the Ashes just one summer back. Kohli racked up 692 runs in eight innings during that series, which included four tons.
He was nabbed thrice by Johnson during that series, but averaged just shy of 50. With it, Kohli shredded the ‘home bully’ tag that was lingering following a wretched tour to England the same year.
A hallmark of Kohli’s stature as a modern great came from his ability to take on the best bowlers. On his next visit to Australia, Kohli was up to the task against the hallowed pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, averaging more than 50 against Starc and Hazlewood. He averaged more than 50 against these two before it plummeted during his final outings against them.
Kohli was supposedly found out in the corridor of uncertainty by James Anderson and Stuart Broad in 2014. On his next visit, Anderson failed to dismiss him in eight innings and Broad managed to only twice in 10 essays. He scored 593 runs in that series and averaged close to 60.
He meted out the same treatment to Vernon Philander, Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada, the best among their crop. It was the appetite for taking on the opposition’s premier bowler that helped him in accumulating 16 of his 30 centuries abroad.
However, that Kohli relished against pace did not take away his fondness for the tweakers.
His run haul against the slower bowlers (3,945) may not match what came against pace (5,284), but he fared better against the spinners, as is evident from his average and dismissal rate.
Two of his most prolific years – 2016 and 2017 – were built on his excellence against spin at home as he tallied back-to-back calendar years with 1000 runs or more.
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In 2018, Kohli scored 1,322, his best year haul, even as India’s assignments moved overseas, to become just the sixth batter to hold the distinction of scoring 1000 runs or more in three successive years.
Kohli’s career stood its challenges and lasted the course due to his ability to adapt. Over the numerous overseas tours, and the varied challenges they brought, Kohli tweaked his front-foot trigger movement and stance (shifting between open and side-on) to counter movement and the corridor of uncertainty.
Through his successful years, Kohli was more assured of playing off his front foot with nearly 60 per cent (at times more) of his shots from 2014 t0 2018 coming from pressing ahead. In more recent times, the rate has dropped closer to 50. This was evident Down Under recently, where Kohli was confronted by his old nemesis – poking outside the off stump and getting trapped in the crease due to minimal footwork.
Kohli faced the prospect of redeeming himself, once again in England, during the upcoming series, but his decision on Monday drew ensured there would be no redemption story.
The Indian talisman walks off into the sunset short of 10,000 Test runs, once his dream, and an average below 50. But these will hardly tarnish the legacy of a modern great who leaves footprints far beyond just numbers.
