Game on at Mohali on day of Kohli-mania

Rohit Mahajan

Mohali, March 4

Virat Kohli brought cheerful chaos to Mohali today. It’s him that fans came to watch on Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka, it’s his jerseys that were sold out by pavement hawkers selling cheap knockoff merchandise near the stadium.

His devotees took leave from office or school, they travelled from Punjab and Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, hoping he’d get a 100 in his 100th Test.

The man himself was a bundle of nerves. “There were butterflies in my stomach. I didn’t realise the magnitude of the occasion until today, when the presentation happened and there were people in the stadium. I felt very nervous,” he said later.

This sudden dawn of nervousness would not be surprising for a man who’s obviously very emotional, who wears his heart on his sleeve. There were manifold reasons. His wife, whom he publicly dotes on, was around; the man whose poster was on the wall of his home, Rahul Dravid, honoured him with a special memento; the crowd welcomed him with a roar, cheered his strokes, was aghast at his dismissal. It’s enough to strike a chord with a man of emotion, which Kohli is.

Cricket made a return to Mohali after September 2019, when the world and the way we looked at it were very, very different from now. This was the second factor that drew fans to the stadium, for they were desperate to see just any cricketing action, even if it’s merely the unexciting old Test cricket.

Kohli obliged with a near-50 that included some of his best strokes, including a glorious straight-drive, fierce pulls and cover drives. But a 50 was denied to him by left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya.

In preparing for this match, he had been troubled in the nets by left-arm spin – those observing him counted no less than seven occasions when he was defeated by a local left-arm spinner in one session.

Left-arm spin did him in today. From around the stumps, Embuldeniya bowled a quick and full ball that pinned him to the crease —- it kept a bit low and turned past his bat and struck the off stump. Kohli stared at the wicket in disbelief and started the forlorn walk back to the pavilion.

India, though, had much to be happy about overall, reaching 357/6 at stumps.

Tough times

A 45 in Kohli’s current mental situation wasn’t such a terrible score – since October 2019, he has averaged 30.26 in 18 Tests, and his career average has fallen from 55.10 to 50.39.

His mind has been in a roil. He had publicly stated he wanted to be captain of Test and ODI teams for a couple of years – and as India’s most successful Test captain, he must have expected his wish to be granted. But then ensued a bitter, public disagreement involving BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and chief selector Chetan Sharma. Add to India’s loss in the Test series to South Africa, and the writing was on the wall. Kohli read it and quit as Test captain, instead of waiting for a possible sacking.

Raja Mondal, merchandise hawker from West Bengal, travels wherever the team plays. A fan wanted to buy a Kohli shirt, but Mondal told him: ‘No Kohli shirts. I’ve sold all of them. There will no more of them.’

The same could be said of Kohli — there would be none such as him, the greatest Indian cricketer of the 21st century so far.