ROBIN ROY
Circa: January 12, 2016… the year’s first ODI being played in Perth between India and Australia. Kohli along with Rohit Sharma (171) scored a massive 207-run partner ship for the 2nd wicket be fore Virat departed for 91. It was the first match of 2016 and Kohli had missed a cen tury and India had lost the game by five wickets!!! Kohli scripted 739 runs in 10 innings with two not outs and averaged a brilliant 92.37 and hit three centu ries along with four fifties with a highest score of 154 unbeaten in 2016. Cut to 2026: Social media trends since Sunday about 2026 being the new 2016 as far as Virat is concerned it is still the peg of the story. The hunger is the same, however, the approach is much sharper and calmer. Kohli’s impressive 124 runs off 108 balls on Sun day, including 10 fours and three sixes marked his 85th international century, as he continues to chase Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 international centuries. Also, this is Kohli’s 54th ODI century. THREE MILESTONES IN 2026 HE MAY BE EYEING: Kohli has piled up 27,975 international runs, just be hind Sangakkara’s 28,016. Kohli is just 42 runs away to become the second highest run getter. Sachin has a tow ering 34,357. The 15,000-run mark in ODIs. Kohli has scored 14,557 — second only to Sachin, who’s way ahead at 18,426. But we must re member that Kohli is about to become just the second player ever to reach the 15,000 ODI run-mark. He needs 443 more. In IPL, Kohli is already the top scorer with 8,661 runs and come IPL 19, he needs 339 more to reach the 9,000-run mark in IPL. THE FUTURE: With an other historic defeat at home and the inconsistency of India’s ODI batting es pecially the dismissals will ensure that the narrative is certainly going to change. It is no longer about Kohli des perately chasing the 2027 World Cup but the BCCI pleading him to linger on until the big-ticket event. Only Kohli emerged with scores of 93, 23 and 124 to finish with an aggregate of 240 runs. All hopes of winning the series and the matches ended with Kohli’s dismissals. With the 2027 World Cup coming up and also the T20 World Cup, what’s haunting BCCI honchos is why the rest of the batting order is crumbling like nine pins? Kohli turns 38 in 2026. The 2027 ODI World Cup is the next big thing for him and time isn’t on his side and given the situation, no batter has shown the hope. Meanwhile, speaking on Virat’s current status, for mer iconic cricketstar, Sunil Gavaskar said, “The thing about him is that he’s not tied down to an image,” Gavaskar said. “A lot of bat ters, a lot of bowlers are tied down to an image. That this is the way, you know, they are perceived, and so they [think they] should stick to that. I don’t think he is tied down to an image. He’s tied down to the job at hand. The job at hand is to score runs, maybe watchfully to start with, and then open out, or score bang-bang at the start and then spread the field and then look for the ones and twos. He’s not tied down by any image, and that is the reason he is con sistent,” he said on the chan nel after the match. “Apart from his talent, of course, and temperament. And when I say not tied down by image, I talk about temperament. Tempera ment is not to say, ‘Oh, I’m expected to hit the six.’ It’s not that. He will watch it and do it, and he never gives up. He refuses to give up,” Gavaskar added. “So even till the end, he was trying that shot. Sometimes you know the gloves can get a bit sweaty, and so the grip on the handle would have gone a little bit awry. And that’s why, instead of going straight, the bad face turned up and he was caught inside the boundary. For me, this is the important thing to learn for any youngster, not to live up to an image, play the sit uation, and you will be more consistent than ever hoped for,” he added. Virat Kohli’s tenure as the captain of India’s Test team too will be remembered as one of the most successful ones. Kohli led India to 40 victories in 68 Tests, losing just 17. He became the most successful Test captain in India’s history, surpassing legends like Sourav Gangu ly and MS Dhoni and joined the ranks of global greats like Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith. Between the years 2016 and 2019, Kohli had found unmatched form. He aver aged 75.93 in 2016, 75.64 in 2017, 55.08 in 2018, and 68.00 in 2019. During this period, Kohli accumulated 3,596 runs in 35 Tests at an average of 66.59, including 14 centuries. These years were the golden age for both Kohli and Indian Test crick et. We stood tall in front of every challenge and Kohli’s productive years saw India win nine consecutive Test series, with home domi nance reaching unthinkable heights. Again, 2017 was a special year for Kohli. He scored six double centuries in Tests, six centuries in ODIs, and amassed 2,818 runs across all formats. His consistency was rock solid. Players like Kohli don’t re tire; they become immortal. (Robin Roy is a Senior Journalist and former Senior Associate Editor, O Heraldo, Goa)
