India’s Test skipper Virat Kohli has now become not just the most improved international batsman but also the one of the best batsman in the world right now based on current form.
After leading India successfully in the longest format of the game last year, the flamboyant right-hander captivated fans with his outstanding form in limited-overs cricket this year.
Right from January in Australia to May at the Indian Premier League, the 27-year-old Delhi-boy has displayed his brilliance with scintillating knocks.
Such has been the impact made by Kohli that the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) has now written a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh with a straightaway demand for a ‘Bharat Ratna’ for Virat Kohli.
In the letter, the AIGF says “Mr. Kohli is arguably the best cricketer ever to have played in the country and by some estimates has even surpassed the performance of Mr. Sachin Tendulkar.” The letter also pointed out that Kohli’s batting average is among the best in the world.
Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian honour and as things stand, Sachin Tendulkar is the only sports personality who has been granted this prestigious award so far. But it was not a cakewalk for Sachin to be conferred Bharat Ratna as questions were raised whether it’s a right decision to give him country’s highest civilian award ahead of Viswanathan Anand and hockey legend Dhyan Chand.
Frankly speaking, billions have aspired so far to be like Sachin Tendulkar. But only one has managed to emulate him the closest ever. To millions of blind-folded devoted fans, Sachin Tendulkar will always be the God of Indian cricket. But in recent years, Virat Kohli’s match-winning, outstanding knocks have ultimately earned him a heroic status among millions of cricket fanatics.
Virat Kohli dominated the World T20 earlier this year to such an extent that he was unanimously named Player of the Tournament for amassing 273 runs at an average of 136.5 and a strike rate of almost 147. He then took that form straight into the IPL. However, in the end, the IPL trophy again eluded him.
But no one can deny Virat Kohli was the player of IPL 9. Not because he hammered an astonishing 973 runs in 16 innings at an average of 81.08 and a strike rate of 152.03. But because the 27-year-old RCB skipper displayed what can be perfectly termed as the Virat Kohli school of T20 batting.
Without even making any sacrifice in the aesthetics and grammar, Kohli was able to push the frontiers of modern batting and actually revolutionized the craft this year.