An Ode to the Grea'TEST'!

May 12^th, 2025. The end of an era – no, this is bigger than an era. This is about legacy, the legacy of a man who bled colour into whites. But where did it all start?

Jun 20^th, 2011, Kingston, Jamaica. Three new debutants for India, all eager to cement their place in the side amidst the twilight phase of the legends bygone. Amongst them was a young lad from Delhi, who had been averaging close to 50 in the last two years of his ODI career. He had also been a part of the recent World Cup-winning squad. How was he going to fare in the most pristine format of the game?

The start of his test career was all but humble – a paltry 4 in the first innings, followed by 15 in the second. The next six months were forgettable. Come 2012, he started to find his footing. In what would fondly be called his home away from home, Adelaide, he showed a glimpse of what was to come by being the only Indian batter to score a century. Although Australia won convincingly, the spark that would transform into a roaring flame was lit.

Two more tons followed that year. In 2013, he climbed greater heights, slowly becoming a mainstay on the side. Towards the end of the year, he filled the rather huge boots of Sachin Tendulkar and batted at the all-important number 4 position. Just when he neared the summit, came the drop – the most harrowing series — England in 2014. Arguably one of the best swing bowlers in the world, James Anderson, was no easy opponent. He swung the Duke a little and then some more, making the visitors dance to his tunes. England befuddled India to take the series 3-1.

“That was bad. But we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves, and move on”, our hero, probably. A little shaken, a little scratched, the Indian contingent arrived in Australia that December. Now the Aussies were real spitfires. More often than not, anyone who dreamed of conquering their backyard left with just that, a dream. If James Anderson had been terrifying, how on earth would you describe Mitchell Johnson and his vicious pace? And on top of that, the Indian skipper, M S Dhoni, was to miss the first test because of an injury. Who could ever give such a young batting lineup a chance?

Dec 12^th, 2014, Adelaide, Australia. Day 3 of the inaugural game. Australia declared overnight after posting a mammoth 517/7. While India’s openers gave them a blazing start, the middle order punched above its weight, with Pujara and Rahane scoring half-centuries and the substitute skipper scoring the first of his famous twin centuries. Although they were bowled out, this team had intent written all over it when they ended their innings with 444 runs on the board. On the 5^th day, the equation was simple. Pick 10 wickets and win for Australia. Chase 363 runs in 98 overs to win the match for India, or grind to a draw. The latter was never an option. India were staggering at 2-57, when the captain and Murali Vijay stitched a partnership of 185 runs. Could this be the first time an Indian team won a series opener against Australia?  A crafty Nathan Lyon bamboozled Vijay when he was one run shy of his ton. His partner, however, had not given up – he was determined to battle it out till the end, despite the spinner picking 3 more wickets in quick succession. India needed 59 runs – the finish line clearly visible when Lyon hit the final nail in the coffin. The skipper fell after scoring 141 runs, but the job was left undone. Years later, when fans look back at this match, they swear they recognised the signs of a new India, a fearless India. A team that played to produce results, not draws, eons before Bazball was coined.

Dec 30^th, 2014. M S Dhoni decided to step down as Test captain. This was the latest in a series of blows the team suffered – the retirement of legends from the previous decade and a string of series losses. The road ahead was uncertain. And in such unsettling times, Virat Kohli ascended the throne.

Jan 10^th, 2015. India slipped to the 7^th rank in the ICC Test Rankings. With nowhere left to go but up, the King started his reign.

Sep 1^st, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka. India sealed its first away series win in four years despite being 1-0 down in the series. There was something different about this Indian side. Something that said greatness awaits.

The first step to being a great test-playing nation starts at home – by being the place your opponents dread to tour. If Australia was vicious and England prestigious, India was testing. For batters needed to master spin if they were to succeed in the dry, humid, and rather dusty pitches the country offered. While India was considered quite a trying tour, England had scripted a famous win away when they defeated the home side 2-1 in 2012.

It seemed as though India had put that disastrous series behind them, as they whitewashed Australia and the West Indies the following year. But the past did not matter anymore; the future did. Could this young side keep choking the opposition with their spin attack while their own dexterity shone through?

If I list out the series wins one by one, it would sound monotonous. So, I recommend you think of a great song, preferably one from a sports movie, and imagine this as a montage. As the chords of your chosen track flow, probably with an energetic drop, the men in blue (clad in white, of course) are knocking out every other team. The first victims were South Africa, touring India. Apart from the gritty stone-walling that the Kotla witnessed in the fourth innings of the fourth test, nothing memorable materialised for the Proteas. India won 3-0.

2016 was a topsy-turvy year. The top spot in the ICC test rankings kept changing hands. However, on the 16^th of January, India bagged that status, albeit for a brief period. This was but a small glimpse of their potential.

Next, they took on the Windies on the islands. In four tests, the touring team won two and drew the others. Then, the Kiwis visited and were whitewashed on home soil. At Indore, on the 11^th of October, when the tour concluded, Virat Kohli was presented with the ICC Test Mace for the first time. India had reached the summit of the ICC test rankings for the third time that year and were finally able to hold on to the spot long enough to be awarded. While this was one of the highest honours in test cricket, India were not content – they simply marched on. Their next mission? England.

The Poms were touring India after four years, and it was a completely different outing this time around. The hosts did not allow the visitors a single victory and took the five-match series 4-0. A one-off match against neighbours, Bangladesh, followed a similar outcome. So did the series against Australia. However, the men from down under, especially their skipper, put up more of a fight to end the series 2-1. Two successive series against Sri Lanka, one at home and one away, also went India’s way. Virat Kohli had now won nine consecutive test series, equalling Ricky Ponting’s record for the most series wins by a captain.

Kohli was by no means quiet on the field. In fact, he wore his emotions on his sleeves. He was in the face of his competitors. He was arrogant and had an attitude – it was never over till it was over. He sledged, and he roared when his bowlers picked wickets by the bunch. Through and through, a bowler’s captain, his strategy was clear – pick twenty wickets at any cost. He often played five frontline bowlers even if it meant the side played with one batter less. His mission? Simple – show the world his team came to dominate.

And dominate he did, with his bat. From the time he was appointed the leader, Kohli’s batting kept getting better. While the clear pick of the pack in test batting of that generation was the prodigious Steven Smith, his other contemporaries could not hold a candle to his prowess in this period. He started 2016 with a double century against the West Indies, and five more followed by the end of 2017. Runs flowed, not only in India, but everywhere he batted. He batted like a man possessed (in possession of the Midas Touch). He was leading from the front with his bat, scoring over 2200 runs at an average of 75.8.

If you think he stopped there, you are wrong. Kohli also led by example when it came to fitness, rejuvenating the benchmarks and practices that were followed by the team. Under his able stewardship, India became one of the fittest groups of cricketers in the world. While talent and performance were still the basis of selection, passing the fitness tests was non-negotiable. The golden standard, a core part of the team culture, was passed down to every recruit. It was indeed a brand-new era of test cricket.

After a record-breaking run at home, it was time to conquer venues abroad, starting with South Africa. While the results of that campaign did not favour India, the outfit managed to pick every single wicket on offer. This was only the third time a side from India had managed to do so, and that was indeed phenomenal, especially at a SENA country. Confident about playing on seamer-friendly pitches, the team travelled to their next assignment in England. With the hope of getting the monkey off his back from the previous tour, Virat Kohli led his men with a mission to try and win (an audacious dream as any)! The bowlers impressed, and the skipper vanquished his demons to score a magnificent 149 in the first innings. However, England did win that test with a measly margin of 31 runs. While the final scorecard read 4-1, many a commentator opined that the series had been much more tightly contested, and this was a win in India’s books.

Aug 5^th, 2018. Kohli was the star for India in that tour of England, and he was rightly crowned atop the ICC test batters ranking for the first time in his career. Test batting average was the lowest in about sixty years, making 2018 the most difficult year to bat, according to common consensus. Nobody rose to the challenge better than our man, with an average of 55 and five centuries to boot. It was already turning out to be a rather stunning year for the skipper, but more action lay ahead.

Home tours in India had become predictable. There was a very slim probability that the visiting team even had a chance to win a single match, let alone the series. What excited Indian fans was the tours away – the possibility of winning on foreign soil. Hence, the buzz started around the series against Australia, who were notably missing their two best batters. However, with a quality bowling attack that was no less than the best in the world, playing in their backyard, surely the Aussies had the upper hand. Surely…

Jan 7^th, 2019, Sydney, Australia. We all know what happened. They had no idea what hit them. The bowlers breathed fire – the smallest of errors resulted in wickets. The batters were clinical in piercing the gaps. The fielders were sharp and made no mistakes. And Kohli? He stood chest-to-chest, stared them in the eye, and never, ever backed down. In short, they were befuddled and beaten. Like never before. It was historical – the first Asian team to defeat Australia at home. It was glorious.

The following year was a breeze. India had a dream start to their inaugural World Test Championship cycle, winning all seven matches. The secret to their success? A strong and coherent bowling line-up, one India had never seen before. Whether it was the spin-duo of Ashwin and Jadeja or the pace battery consisting of Ishant, Shami, Bumrah, and Umesh, they delivered time and time again. Unshakable would have been an apt adjective.

And then they faltered. An utterly miserable and forgettable outing in New Zealand. It was probably the law of averages, right?

Wrong. A few blips followed. Covid-19 hit. India slipped down the test rankings after almost 43 months at the summit. A horrendous start to the Australia tour. However, all’s well that ends well. When Pant hit that boundary at the Gabba, the team was looking at a very realistic chance of playing the WTC final in England! A routine series against England at home and India had topped the WTC table – they were in the finals!

Jun 24^th, 2021, Southampton, United Kingdom. Every tale has its highs and lows. This was heartbreak. One could sit and ponder the what-ifs for hours, but it would be futile. The Kiwis had won fair and square. A trophy had eluded captain Kohli once again.

But he shrugged it off, squared his shoulders, and tried to beat England in England. And he came quite close too!

Aug 16^th, 2021, London, United Kingdom. Day 5 of the second test. Although the first match was drawn due to rain, the second at Lord’s was iconic. Against the odds, India had 60 overs to bowl, having set a target of 272. The team huddle probably grabbed more eyeballs than the events that ensued – it was all to do with the raw magnetism and fierce confidence the skipper exuded. “For 60 overs, they should feel hell out there”, said Kohli, pointing towards the English batters, at the end of his pep talk. His bowlers were spurred on, and they struck in quick succession. The Poms had never looked more clueless. With 8.1 overs to spare, the last man standing, Anderson, fell, marking quite a remarkable feat. This was the outlook that defined Kohli and his captaincy, and thus, this win gained a cult-like status almost immediately.

At the end of four games, India had the upper hand. However, Covid-19 complications and a packed schedule meant the fifth test was postponed to the following year. In the next five months, Kohli went on to lead in three more tests before stepping down as India’s most successful test captain. Never did he lose a home series, maintaining a streak of 11 unbeaten occasions.

On the other hand, his batting had started to dip. After a classical 74 under the lights at Adelaide in 2020, Virat Kohli never seemed to hit his stride. Were there no gritty knocks after that? There definitely were a few. Did he not score centuries after that? Yes, he did. But was it the Virat Kohli of old? Not really.

For someone who had ruled the world and seen the fear in his enemies’ eyes, how did the numbers matter? For someone whose wicket was prized by even the most terrifying bowlers, does falling short by 770 runs even matter? What difference does having a sub-50 average make? For a player who had achieved everything he could in the arena, who commanded outcomes to bend to his will, does beating Graeme Smith or Steve Waugh’s records hold any significance?

The layman would be envious. Who would not want to be Virat Kohli? I know better. To have been a batter of such pedigree that every commentator is in disbelief at how good you have become. To have been a batter of such pedigree that you fail to meet your own standards, that you are tormented by your own success – oh, who would ever want to be the King?

Looking back, beyond the runs, beyond the wins, and beyond the milestones, it is the fact that this man redefined test cricket that matters. A man who was an ambassador for this format and made people tune in and watch something that is considered too time-consuming for our fast-paced world. A man who turned boring into brilliant. A man who would always have a place in the hallowed halls of fame, no matter how many of his records get broken. A man whose tales will be etched into the books of history for future generations to marvel at, never to be forgotten.

And that man is Virat Kohli.