Joy of batting, art of winning

Virat Kohli was a once-in-a-generation talent. He also turned Team India into a winning machine

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Statistics offer only a partial view of sporting greatness. In Virat Kohli's case, they are likely misleading. After playing 123 Test matches and scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, Kohli has called it a day, leaving a big hole in the batting order just as India embarks on a likely tough tour of England.

The numbers do not do justice to the pure delight of his batsmanship or the enormous impact he has had on Indian cricket, more so as its most successful Test captain. He was definitely among the greatest batsmen of his generation, and between 2016 and 2019, he was probably the best. Still, his indifferent form since means that his contemporaries Joe Root, Steven Smith, and Kane Williamson are likely to leave the game soon with better career batting records.