A LEGACY BEYOND TEST & TIME

Virat's arrival into Indian cricket, especially their Test team, changed the contours of what was possible

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

IN hindsight, when Virat Kohli wore his beloved Test whites for the first time, a June morning many moons ago in West Indies, it set in stone a beginning of a new era as well as the beginning of the end of one. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were about to retire, an aging Sachin Tendulkar was on a break and Kohli, by sheer force of will and a testament to unflinching ethos even back then, had become an all-format player.

Over the next two years, India's modern batting greats retired. One by one. Laxman.

Dravid. Virender Sehwag Tendulkar. An endless conveyor belt of batting talent meant able replacements were ready. Plug and play.

But Kohli wasn't just any plug and play. He changed the goalposts. His arrival into Indian cricket, especially their Test team, changed the contours of what was possible. He did so in multiple ways. His batting spoke for itself, his captaincy set a new benchmark and the way he read the game lit the blue touchpaper in ways Indians weren't accustomed to.

He was unapologetic, his intensity rubbed of on his teammates as well as the paying public and he bent many a Test through sheer character and tenacity If his captaincy took India to new heights -- it's not a surprise he's their winningest captain in the five-day format - his approach with the bat won him his first admirers.