India great Kapil Dev has suggested that Virat Kohli has the potential to be better than Sachin Tendulkar.
But Kohli will have to achieve something that proved beyond even Don Bradman if he’s to start the looming four-Test series against Australia on a high note.
Kohli was named on Monday to captain India’s Test side for the first time after a wrist injury forced skipper MS Dhoni out of the opening encounter at the Gabba.
A 26-year-old batting sensation, who has attracted plenty of attention for the quality and quantity of his runs, he was the obvious choice.
Tendulkar was 23 when, with even greater weight of expectation, he was first given the Test captaincy.
Tendulkar inflicted a seven-wicket defeat on Australia in Delhi in 1996 but, across two stints, he played only 25 of 200 Tests as skipper.
Captaincy doesn’t come naturally to all cricketers. It is a more exacting responsibility than in most other sports.
On top of the many off-field obligations, skippers make crucial bowling changes, set much-critiqued batting orders and fields.
They must find a way to artificially lift a side when they are out of a contest.
Bradman was unable to do it at the Gabba in 1936, when Australia’s greatest cricketer led the national side in a Test for the first time.
He was out for a duck in a miserable collapse of 8-55 that led to a 322-run loss, having reversed his batting order in the second innings in an effort to combat a wet wicket.
Almost 80 years on, Kohli is unlikely to do the same.
But the right-hander, a target of sledging who was fined for giving the finger to the SCG crowd in response to jibes on his only tour of Australia, will be tested by the vocal locals in Brisbane.
Combative and competitive as he is, don’t expect Australians to be too congenial.
Explaining his gesture in 2012, Kohli posted on Twitter that the crowd said “the worst things about your mother and sister. The worst I’ve heard”.
After scoring an impressive first Test century in Adelaide while Australia worked their way to a 4-0 series sweep, Kohli was even more forthright.
“It is really, really frustrating at times because they say stuff which shouldn’t be said on a cricket field,” Kohli said.
“You go out there to play, not to get abused.
“They’ve come to enjoy the game of cricket. They should do that and not get drunk and abuse players.”
Kohli was likewise fired up about the hosts’ sledging.
“(Paceman Ben) Hilfenhaus said something to me which was totally unnecessary and out of the blue. He wasn’t even bowling or doing anything,” Kohli said.
“He just said something which I can’t repeat obviously in the press conference.
“I gave it back to him.”
Kohli will have more important things to worry about at the Gabba, where a toss can be an unforgiving beast itself.
Kohli failed to fire in India’s most recent Test tour, to England, like most of his teammates.
The pressure will be on, but the pugnacious talent has never been one to back down.
“I am sure it is a very tough position to be in. You have to be ready to take all the criticism and praise that comes your way,” Kohli said earlier this year while filling in for Dhoni during a one-day contest.
VIRAT KOHLI, SOON TO BE INDIA’S 32ND TEST CAPTAIN:
* Aggressive batsman. Broke an Indian record when he scored an ODI century off 52 balls against Australia last year. Two weeks later, he scored another ton against Australia off 61 balls
* Record-breaking run-scorer. Especially at one-day level, most recently he reached 6000 ODI runs in 136 innings to outdo Sir Vivian Richards and set a new mark
* Accomplished stroke-player. One of few to stand up during India’s miserable Test tour of Australia in 2011-12. Boasts a Test average of 39.46 and ODI average of 51.30
* Combustible type. Before giving the finger at the SCG, he was fined for showing dissent in 2011 after being given out lbw in a one-dayer
* Genuine superstar. Has 4.38 million followers on Twitter, plenty of promotional deals and dates Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma. Was rated the second ‘most marketable athlete’ in the world by UK magazine SportsPro.
