Virat Kohli, India’s superstar cricketer, will play his 100th test on Friday, but not as captain after his surprise departure from one of the sport’s highest positions in January.
Kohli led India to become a force to be reckoned with outside of India, but they never won a major international tournament. Kohli led the way as one of the best batsmen in the modern game.
Along the way, the brazen social media celebrity and advertising hot property — who is married to a Bollywood actress — had his share of run-ins with umpires and opponents.
Ahead of Saturday’s encounter against Sri Lanka, AFP highlights five standout moments from the 33-year-old spectacular but sometimes rocky career. (–
Debut in Australia –Kohli assumed the Test captaincy for the first time in December 2014, replacing an injured MS Dhoni. He had an immediate impression.
After hitting 115 in the first innings of the first Test, he led India’s chase of 364 runs with an aggressive 141, but India fell 48 runs short.
However, the new captain was commended for his daring in going for a victory rather than a draw.
“Last night, I informed the boys that whatever the aim was, we were going to pursue it,” he said.
‘You said it’ — In a tense home Test series against Australia in 2017, Kohli’s opposite number, Steve Smith, went to his dressing room for help on a DRS decision.
Kohli was taken aback, argued with the umpires, and then accused the visitors of frequently exploiting the decision review system.
When asked by an Australian journalist whether he was indicating that Smith—who has pleaded guilty to a “brain fade”—was a cheat, Kohli lashed back: “I did not say that, you did.”
Two years later, Kohli led India to their first-ever Test series victory in Australia after seven decades — a moment he characterised at the time as his “greatest accomplishment.”
His 82 in the opening innings of the third Test in Melbourne contributed significantly to the visitors’ 2-1 victory in the match and series. Ravi Shastri, Kohli’s coach, said that Kohli’s leadership abilities “made all the difference.”
India ascended to the top of the Test rankings and stayed there for nearly three years, dominating opponents at home and abroad with flamboyant batting and, unusually for India, a terrifying fast-bowling assault.– Microphone talk – Kohli was embroiled in another controversy during his final Test as captain in South Africa, when he reacted angrily to a third umpire’s refusal to award a LBW verdict.
Kohli and other people ran up to the stumps and yelled at the microphone as if they were playing football, not cricket.
Pundits, including former captain Sunil Gavaskar, slammed Kohli for his on-field antics. They said the situation could have been avoided.
The collapse – India’s humiliation by archrivals Pakistan in last year’s T20 World Cup and subsequent inability to reach the semi-finals seemed to be the last nail in Kohli’s coffin.Immediately after Pakistan’s defeat, Kohli’s strong defence of Mohammed Shami from social media trolls caused a lot of people to be angry with him.
There was also a lot of stress caused by living in Covid bubbles all the time, so Kohli resigned as T20 captain. His last century came in late 2019.
He wanted to continue leading in other forms, but the BCCI cricket board had other plans, dismissing him as ODI captain. He had a public spat with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.
