Coach of the Indian U-19 side when Virat Kohli took over as captain for the first time – just one month before leading the side to the junior World Cup glory in Kuala Lumpur – former batsman WV Raman vividly remembers the early traits of the now India captain and what separated him from the rest even at that age.
In a conversation with Cricbuzz, Raman reminisced what instantly caught his eyes about Kohli the batsman and the leader that he felt would serve him well in years down the line.
Kohli, though not then the all-format genius he is today, was the stand-out batsman at that U-19 World Cup, showing maturity and a level of development that was unmatched through the tournament.
He made 235 runs from his six innings, including one hundred, at an average of 47.00 and strike-rate of 94.75. Five months later, Kohli made his international debut in Dambulla against Sri Lanka.
But it wasn’t the batting or the runs that Kohli made which Raman immediately grew in awe of. It was his leadership.
“Here you had this guy who was nominated as the captain, but he was different in the sense that whenever there was a crisis situation he would still take the ball and bowl if he felt the bowlers might succumb to the pressure. That is something very rare — a boy at the Under-19 level wanting to be there in the front, take the lead and do things.”
Raman said.
“He was not shirking responsibility. It is easy for anybody to say I did my bit, my job as a captain is only to use the bowlers I have. But here he was, not bothered about being subjected to flak if things went wrong when he bowled.
“That means you had a boy who was not only able to detect what was going on in the minds of his teammates, but he was also willing to take that onus and not think about the repercussions he might face if things went wrong,”
he added.
Not the most gifted of players when he began, Kohli has progressed to become one of the world’s best batsmen on the back of sheer hard work, his willingness to improve and evolve constantly. At the age of 32, Kohli already boasts of over 20,000 international runs and is undoubtedly one of the most influential captains that India have had.
