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From a 19-year-old rookie back in 2008 to a 34-year-old legend in 2023 – Virat Kohli has come a long way in his international career. When Sachin Tendulkar retired in 2013, Indian cricket fans were left wondering, ‘who after the Master Blaster?’ Their question was soon answered as Kohli emerged to the fore and became the world’s greatest modern-day batter. Kohli took his prodigious talent and converted it into greatness. From 2012, Kohli took exactly six years to become a legend of the game, piling mountain of runs and centuries. By 2018, Kohli had won the ICC Player of the Year awards, thus establishing him at a level breached only by the great Tendulkar.
While there was no doubting his calibre, some people were unsure about Kohli becoming the player that he is, including his former Delhi and India teammate Virender Sehwag. The former India opener shared the Indian dressing room with Kohli for 7 years, including 2012 – the year which marked Virat’s ‘arrival’ in international cricket. Inside a month, Kohli played two of the most glorious innings ever witnessed in India cricket. Against Sri Lanka in the CB Series, he blasted an unbeaten 133 to help India chase down 321 inside 37 overs and soon after pummelled an unbeaten 183 as the Men in Blue defeated Pakistan in a high-octane Asia Cup tie. Many believe his knock in Hobart is what propelled Kohli to greatness, but Sehwag wasn’t one of them although today he is happy to be proven wrong.
“No one ever doubted his talent but I didn’t believe that Kohli would reach the heights he has now. Others may have felt that way but I didn’t. Even when he smashed Malinga in that match for fours – I think we needed some 280 inside 40 overs – he scored a wonderful century. So we knew there was no lacking in talent and that he will score runs but didn’t know that he will reach such legendary status and hit 70-75 centuries or score 25000 runs. I was doubtful about that because it’s one thing to have talent but how long can you convert it into performances. Will he be this mentally strong? Today, he has proven everyone including me wrong. The greatness Kohli has reached today is unbelievable,” Sehwag told YouTuber Ranveer Allahabadia on his channel ‘Beer Biceps’.
The story of Kohli’s freak transformation in 2012 is a rare epic, when he one day looked at himself in the mirror and realised he wouldn’t last long in international cricket if he didn’t trigger an immediate change. Gone were the junk food, the partying. Instead, Kohli became India’s fitness icon, which in turn brought out the best in him. Weighing in on the same, Sehwag believes that to have the zeal to undergo a regime change is one thing, but to sustain it over so many years is not everyone’s cup of tea.
“Back in the day, he was pretty normal, just like us. Besides batting and fielding, he used to party and do all that a 19-10 year old used to. So it’s not like he did something different when he emerged but he realised it pretty quickly that if he has to play long, he needs to have discipline, even if that means letting go a few things, follow a particular exercise, score big runs. He realised it very early which very few players do. See, with him many players came and went but Kohli was able to cement himself,” Sehwag pointed out.
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