Kohli retires: Can new stars match the legend?

Virat Kohli sounded almost desolate while talking about his struggles against Fidel Edwards during his debut Test against the West Indies in 2011.

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It was not the beginning an ambitious young man desired.

Instead of glory, there was anxiety and confusion. He ended that nearly 20 minutes of conversation at a Kingston restaurant with a plain yet powerful message: "Lekin mein chhorunga nahi (I will not leave it)".

He did not leave the fight, hitting peaks between 2014 and 2019 that not many modern day cricketers have climbed.

Runs and centuries flowed as the cricketing world marvelled at the transformation into a batting virtuoso who propelled India to some dizzying heights and memorable wins in Test cricket.

However, it's also a blueprint for some of the young batters who have been tasked to helm the Indian cricket in the post-Kohli and Rohit Sharma era.

Shubman Gill

Among the "Next Generation" stars, none holds more significance than Shubman Gill, potentially India's premier batsman and Test skipper in the coming days.

Perhaps, it's a coincidence but Gill finds himself in the same space as Kohli when he was at 25 with a middling Test record.

The Punjab man has played 32 Tests for 1893 runs at an average of 35.

But Gill will now go to England where he has a modest record 88 runs from three Tests at an average of 14.66.