Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli hits first Test hundred

As well as being from a different generation, Tendulkar, Dravid and them are also significantly older than the likes of Virat Kohli. What we mean by this is that people change over time. They grow up.

We say this not because we’re competing in a hotly-contested online state-the-obvious competition, but because people seem to think that India will basically just abandon Test cricket when these old duffers finally retire. It may well be that Kohli, Raina and Sharma aren’t Test-loving elder statesmen of the game right now, but nor were the big names once upon a time.

Early days for Virat Kohli

Kohli’s been around for years and he’s judged as such, but he’s actually only 23. Rahul Dravid didn’t make his Test debut until he was that age. Pretty much everything we know about Dravid took place when he was older than Kohli is now. That’s how we judge him.

If you want to compare attitudes more fairly, you’ll have to speak to Kohli in 16 years’ time.

Twenty20 generation

There are definite signs that many younger players feel they can get more from cricket. Just as a seasoned cricket watcher might enjoy a Twenty20 match or two but tire of the format over time, so those on the pitch seem to follow a similar path.

When Kohli made his first Test hundred against Australia in Adelaide, he was, to put it mildly, emotional. His adrenal gland frequently goes into overdrive, but even by his standards he was fist-pumpingly screamy when he reached three figures. He’d earned it.

It was tough for him to get into the Test team, it was tough for him to stay there and, in Australia, he’s been up against it on and off the field. It wasn’t a celebration borne of just this one innings. Virat Kohli had a point to prove. In Test cricket.

Virat Kohli should be in India’s Test team

Rob Key says that even Suresh Raina must wonder how he gets picked ahead of Virat Kohli. It’s not just because we mindlessly go along with everything Rob says like a mindless yes-man that we agree with him on this occasion.

There’s been a change in Kohli. He’s always looked good, but he’s been too eye-catching at times. Sometimes it was like winning a game wouldn’t be enough, he’d have to do it with spectacular sixes. Now he rattles along at a cracking pace without feeling the need to clear the ropes.

He’s solid. He seems to be happy to be second-best in partnerships, which bizarrely makes him a better batsman. Not that he was second-best today. It may only have been England in a one-day match in India, but he did the job, braving mediocre bowling and a little bit of knob-headery from some tetchy England players to register his seventh one-day international hundred.

As for England, their defeats have quickly become all too predictable. Here’s hoping for some England losses with a few more twists and turns in them. Come on boys, keep us guessing about precisely how you’re going to acquiesce to defeat.