Crisis situation! Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has nothing to worry about because he knows that he has Virat Kohli in his arsenal. Whenever India is in a spot of bother, the whole team looks up to him and the best part is that he hardly fails to deliver on the expected lines.

There were speculations on whether Kohli could replicate his domination from the limited overs format to the longer version of the game. And he has now very well proved that he is the one who could be trusted in all the formats of the game.

The Delhi boy has scored two half centuries and a century in three innings that he batted against New Zealand, which did not only reflect his good form but also shows that he has the technique and attitude to play in Test matches.

Kohli has been particularly dominant under pressure situations in the ODIs and the way he batted in second Test against New Zealand shows that he has the ability to deal with pressure when it comes to longer format as well. In the first innings of the match, he scored a century to take India closer to the Kiwis total and in the second innings scored a match winning half century.

His achievement in the international cricket so far has taken him way ahead of his peers and he has travelled a long distance to become a ‘revered icon’ from a ‘brash youngster.’

As a matter of fact, Kohli was the lone Indian batsmen who could breach the three figures in the testing Australian conditions last season. The batting line-up boasted of players like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid to name a few, but no one seemed to be at ease batting in those conditions but Kohli stood like a rock to score his first Test century.

That was perhaps the indication of good things that would come and it exactly turned out to be so. Kohli, who was not a regular member in the Test side prior to the Australian tour, has now sealed his spot in the team.

Kohli already has two centuries and five half centuries in the 10 Test matches that he has played and this shows that the wonder boy of ODI cricket has matured into a Test cricketer as well.

He at times might lose his head in the field, but then when he is batting he just hates to throw his wicket away and plays with utmost concentration.

For a player of his age, he is over too matured and that reflects on his game. He does not play any reckless shot just like one can get to see from youngsters of his age and does not get carried away with the euphoria while on crease.

He has become India’s go-to-man at times of need and has also established as the fore-runner to take the baton on from his illustrious seniors like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Indian Sports News Network