The Emergence of Virat Kohli
Kohli’s brilliant performance this year is certainly a great sign for Indian cricket, but will the young Indian batsman make it to ODI cricket’s premier event in 2011?
In the early-mid 2000s, it seemed like VVS Laxman was always fighting for his spot in the Test eleven even though he was a regular run-scorer. It’s not until the last few years that his greatness and consistency have been truly recognized and it’s now more a question of when VVS chooses to leave rather than him being forced to leave.
Today’s ODI equivalent of Laxman in the mid-early 2000s is Virat Kohli. Kohli has been India’s most consistent batsman in 2010 and has been the second highest aggregate run-getter in ODIs this year.
Top run scorers in 2010
| Player | Mat | Runs | Ave | SR | 100s | 50s |
| HM Amla (SA) | 15 | 1058 | 75.57 | 104.23 | 5 | 4 |
| V Kohli (India) | 23 | 993 | 52.26 | 85.67 | 3 | 7 |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 16 | 964 | 80.33 | 102.11 | 5 | 4 |
| TM Dilshan (SL) | 20 | 921 | 51.16 | 98.92 | 3 | 4 |
| Imrul Kayes (Ban) | 26 | 865 | 33.26 | 67.15 | 1 | 6 |
| CL White (Aus) | 25 | 848 | 44.63 | 84.46 | 1 | 6 |
| MEK Hussey (Aus) | 24 | 825 | 45.83 | 91.56 | 0 | 6 |
| AJ Strauss (Eng) | 14 | 806 | 57.57 | 95.95 | 2 | 6 |
| MJ Clarke (Aus) | 19 | 777 | 55.5 | 79.36 | 1 | 5 |
Kohli has got runs against all oppositions with centuries against Bangladesh, Australia and New Zealand. The graph below indicates his innings-by-innings performance in 2010.
Despite these performances, Kohli’s place in India’s eleven for the 2011 World Cup is in no way assured. Assuming everyone is fully fit, you have to believe Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhoni pick themselves. Which leaves two-three spots up for grabs, depending on whether India play an all-rounder at seven or not. If Yusuf Pathan or any other all-rounder comes in at seven, that leaves two spots with Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli the main contenders for those spots. Raina and Yuvraj bring in more experience and might get the nod ahead of Kohli.
The other option is to play all three of them (or any other batsman like a Rohit Sharma, Pujara or Dinesh Karthik) and have Yuvraj, Sehwag and Raina chip in for the fifth bowler’s quota. Either way, Kohli’s spot is not a given, despite a string of consistent performances. However, if he keeps his form going for the next couple of months, team management will find it hard pressed to leave him out of the playing eleven. The good news for India is that the competition for spots has led to youngsters stepping up which only bodes well for the future.
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