Virat Kohli, in probably the last phase of his career, decided to celebrate his birthday in India and not go where he usually spends it.
Virat has been striking as a prominent figure in Indian cricket and has achieved the age of 36 today. As the face of the Nation in the Indian cricket team, Kohli has had one of the greatest emerging years with India winning the World Cup in June this year. Although 2024 was possibly one of his career years when he was in best of the forms, Kohli remains adored by many even today.
Virat has earned his place among the legends such as MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar whereas some would even argue that his present-day influence is greater than his former colleagues. At this time as Kohli advances to the later years of his thirties, the hope is that he will regain that glory while others had called him ‘King’ clearly earned it.
Even though there were speculations that Virat is making London his base, he has decided to remain in India to celebrate his special day with his family. It is worth noting that his partner in crime, his wife Anushka Sharma who is a Bollywood actress, returned to India in September and Kohli followed soon after as India was to host five test matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand on their home soil.
The series ended terribly for Kohli as India lost the series 3-0 to New Zealand but Kohli was seen celebrating his special day with his family as there were sighs of relief for him after such a loss.
Let’s be honest, this year has been quite dull for Kohli in 2024. Except for his great run in IPL, where he managed to secure the Orange Cap, Kohli has played only 18 international games in the form of six Tests, three ODIs and nine T20Is to score only 488 runs in total.
But all eyes are now focused on the three following high-stake tests against the Australians in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Melbourne. Winning these could, apart from making it easier for India to reach the final of the World Test Championship and take revenge on New Zealand, also signal a change in fortunes for Kohli who has been out of sorts for a long time now.
As it turned out more than a decade later and with No. 13 on his back, he is as dismal as he was in his 2nd test match against Australia. Kohli had his worst test innings in 2011 and had joined the team on tour in 2012 at that pivotal junction of his career. At 24, he was deemed still young but there should not be many more chances to be grabbed.
He did some batting work during his time in the West Indies, but his struggles continued relentlessly for three matches in Australia. The call for him to leave grew progressively stronger.
But, as it turned out, Captain Dhoni had other ideas. With the generations of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman almost retired from the game, Kohli was expected to be the future. He had faith in him and let the young batter finish the series.
And as it turned out, it was indeed the right call. At the historic WACA in Perth, Kohli made strong contributions in the third Test scoring 44 not out in the first and 75 not out in the second innings as the experienced members of the team faltered.
Even though the series had been already lost and with little to play for it appeared, Kohli took the confidence from his innings in Perth and strode to the next match in Adelaide. There, he began a love affair with the Adelaide Oval, where he has since made 509 runs in 4 Tests. That was when he made his much-anticipated Test debut, scoring 100 runs there
Fast forward over a decade and Indian cricket is staring at a similar situation. Kohli, now considered a senior player, is expected to deliver as Sanjay Manjrekar had once said years back. Kohli could only manage two Test fifties this calendar year, the last one being in January, 2014.
On the other hand, younger players are pushing through the ranks and putting pressure on long standing veterans. While 36 years old Kohli’s remarkable fitness could provide him with a longer leash compared to captain Rahit Sharma, a regular performance is crucial driving forward.
How Virat Kohli can succeed in Australia
Australia may have a number of things that would desire Kohli towards this Test series. His outstanding test record against Australian teams: 2042 runs in 25 matches and 47.49 runs as his average which included eight centuries of which five were scored in Australia.
As the things stand now, Kohli is likely to miss any further tours as he is aware that this might be his last opportunity as Border-Gavaskar Trophy is in reach. Also, the pitches in Australia provide different conditions to Kohli who has been previously accustomed to spin friendly surfaces in India.
These factors would lead Kohli to employ attacks at his will, the bat clean and looking for runs to score, free from worrying and looking out for spinning balls from the first day.
Kohli – after everything that has been done to reach the point of a border of Indian cricket, as she has finally come on the verge to become a titan, will have to fight down and look deep in order to bring back countless energies, passions, motivations, and his fierce aggression to prove he still can give the best of his abilities.
He was a century machine churning out runs without breaking a sweat but now if Kohli regains such transformation in Australia then India would have a high likelihood of winning the next test series against New Zealand.