After Sachin, it’s Kohli for Mumbaikars

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, December 10

The scenes were pretty similar to those days when Sachin Tendulkar used to reign supreme in the hearts of spectators at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbaikars would chant "Sachin, Sachin" endlessly whenever the Maestro would reach a career milestone or the 100-run mark here.

A very similar kind of passion and emotions were witnessed today. Virat Kohli drove the passion while the emotions were reserved for Test cricket's return to Wankhede after three years. It is India's first Test at this venue after Tendulkar's retirement and the crowd wanted to soak in the atmosphere.

In Kohli, the Mumbaikars have found a new icon to fill in the big shoes of Tendulkar. Kohli’s batting prowess, his shot selection and his attitude have made him a darling of the crowd.

On Saturday, the atmosphere was electrifying once again. The stands were almost full — the official count put it at 19,444. The Indian flag fluttered endlessly and the tri-colour adorned almost every face in the stands. There were many wearing Kohli's jersey No. 18.

Undoubtedly, Kohli was the sole reason for the Mumbaikars to flood the stadium. The crowd deliriously chanted Kohli's name as soon as he walked out at the fall of Cheteshwar Pujara’s wicket. The crowd wanted Kohli to entertain them with his sublime batting and their wish was granted in the second ball of the morning session. Amid “Kohli, Kohli” chants, the Indian skipper took the guard and he didn't disappoint the weekend crowd with another special innings.

It was quite evident that the chants, reserved only for Tendulkar till some years ago, have now found resonance in the legend of Kohli. “We idolise Kohli. We enjoy his free-flowing batting. He made our day by scoring a century,” said Hrithik, a second year student at the Birla College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Kalyan, Mumbai.

“After Tendulkar, a vacuum had been created but Kohli seems to have filled that void,” said Ryan from Bandra. Almost 2,000-3,000 people waited outside to watch Kohli bat. But, they were all without tickets.

Black marketeering, tickets sold out?

There were empty seats as well at Wankhede but the online ticketing partner, KyaZoonga.com, had put up a ‘sold out’ board at the pick-up counter. The MCA's ticket counter also displayed the same message. The sale of tickets for Sunday has also been stopped.

This led to rampant black marketeering of tickets, with some selling tickets at three times the original price of the ticket. Outside the Churchgate railway station, which is the closest to the stadium, there were groups selling the tickets illegally. At Gate No. 4 of the station, a tout sold four tickets worth Rs 2,400 for Rs 8,000 to a family seeking entrance to Level 3 of Garware Pavilion end. Another tout sold two tickets for Rs 6,000.

Kohli: Great Numbers

2 Virat Kohli is the second Indian captain to score over 500 runs in a Test series. Sunil Gavaskar did it twice, against West Indies (732 runs in 1978-79) and England (500, 1981-82)

3India captains have made 1,000-plus runs in a year — S Tendulkar (1997), R Dravid (2006) and Virat Kohli this year

50 Virat Kohli averages over 50 in all three formats in international cricket. His average in Tests touched 50 when he reached 142 runs today 

8Centuries by V Kohli as captain. This is the list of top captain-centurions:11: S Gavaskar (74 innings) 9: M Azharuddin (68 innings) 8:  V Kohli (34 innings) 7:  S Tendulkar (43 innings)

2Second time V Kohli made over 500 runs in a Test series, after 692 vs Australia in 2014-15. Incidentally, Sachin Tendulkar never totalled 500 in a series — his best was 493 runs in Australia in 2007-08