Virat Kohli | Athlete who aced the Test Premium

Virat Kohli's Test career defined by brilliance, underachievement, and seismic change in Indian squad; a unique aura departs.

A middling start, an incandescent middle stage and a slow decline define Virat Kohli’s Test career. Still, his retirement from cricket’s longest format seems a touch drastic. Kohli’s goodbye note on Instagram that came close on the heels of Rohit Sharma’s exit marks a seismic change in the Indian squad.

Walking in at number four, a slot that the great Sachin Tendulkar made his own, Kohli lent the spot his unique aura and energy. There were no nerves while the Delhi lad slipped into the Mumbaikar’s shoes. At one point, Tendulkar’s twilight and Kohli’s beginning ran parallel and it was evident that a hallowed baton was being passed.

Kohli has impressive numbers in cricket’s longest format as 9230 runs and 30 hundreds signify. Yet an average of 46.85 also points towards a bit of an underachievement, considering his enormous skill. He leaves as India’s fourth-highest run-getter in Tests after Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar, and it is a rarefied club.

Among his international peers, be it Joe Root, Steve Smith or Kane Williamson, Kohli held his corner. At one point, he was on par in terms of runs, hundreds and average.

And as a box-office draw, he got the crowds. This is an intangible which cannot be entirely measured, but Kohli had an effect on fans the world over. He emptied out bars, stirred debates.

Yet, the fact that he played relentlessly across formats, besides the Indian Premier League (IPL) in summer, meant that he hardly had time off to sort out a technical glitch or a sore muscle. Inexorably from among this Fab Four, his returns began to dwindle.

With Kohli, his strong personality, aggressive playing style and the dominance across formats, all combined to yield a brand equity that made the world sit up and take notice. It is no surprise that a business daily has analysed his marketability and financial leverage once he announced his retirement from Tests.