When 2018 England tour cemented Kohli's place as ‘the best’

CHENNAI: A mere 134 runs in 10 Test innings! And then all the chatter of him being the best Test batter? Virat Kohli’s Test career was moving at a breakneck speed but his struggles in England in 2014 would prove a sizeable bump, making a large section of the global cricket audience frown upon the Delhi streetfighter’s claim to the ‘best batter’ crown.Four years later — England 2018 — in many ways, would pose the litmus test for Kohli. He was the captain of a team that hadn’t yet made winning away from home a habit, though it harboured those ambitions. But most of all, Kohli had to deal with the demons that James Anderson, that wonderfully crafty England bowler had unleashed upon the modern master in 2014, making life so miserable for him.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!We could all see Kohli’s determination in training, but we were not sure what was in store when the ball rolled in Birmingham for the first Test on a pitch that had a lot in it for bowlers. England’s pace attack of Anderson, Stuart Broad, Sam Curran and Ben Stokes was more than a handful for most Indian batters. But Kohli would prove he was something else.

He decided that he would completely reinvent red-ball batting in England. The then 28-year-old threw the cricket manual out of the window, which had said that the best way to play in England is late after the ball had done its business.Kohli decided to take guard outside the crease and take on Anderson head-on, something that the master of swing hadn’t anticipated. Kohli decided he would meet the ball before it starts to break for the movement off the pitch — a massive risk against pacers bowling at more than 135 km/hr. Yes, there were a few edges that weren’t taken, but that’s the charm of cricket and his 149 and 51 in a losing cause had already taken him past his 2014 tour tally.

Anderson couldn’t get him out in both innings. In fact, he failed to get Kohli out even once throughout the series. There was a hint of irritation in the Englishman’s response when somebody asked him whether he would try and bowl slightly shorter to Kohli in the second Test to push him back into his crease. “Do you want to be part of England’s support-staff ?” Anderson had snapped back. You could see Kohli had got under his skin.The trend continued. India lost the series, but Kohli had 593 runs for his efforts, which included two centuries. All doubts about whether Kohli could master the red ball in England were buried along with the swinging ghosts from Anderson.

Later, Kohli revealed how he had devised his plan for that series following consultations with the then coach Ravi Shastri.“Ravi-bhai told me to stand outside the crease. He explained the mindset behind it: ‘You should be in control of the space you’re playing (in) and not give (it to) the bowlers to get you out. So many dismissals get taken out when you’re standing outside the crease.’ I started doing that and the results were unbelievable,” Kohli said.Virat Kohli toured England once more in 2021, by which time he had slightly dipped from his best form. An average of 27.44 wasn’t the best for a man of his lofty standards but by then the statement had already been made.