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Gerard Whateley • May 13th, 2025 2:30 pm
Today, one story lords over sport beyond all others. A bit like the man himself.
Virat Kohli has retired from Test cricket. It’s a seismic moment in international sport and a significant closing of an era in cricket,
Kohli has been his generation’s most profound figure.
The first great all-format batter and the man who transformed Indian cricket on-field in parallel to the country’s rise as the sport’s economic and political powerhouse.
Kohli was a captivating leader and a mesmerising batter.
He cast drama and he courted drama.
He did nothing less than transform his nation’s character.
And so much of his legacy is intertwined with Australia, the team and public alike.
He has almost a comic book love/hate figure on these shores. He started here as a young man flipping the bird to aggressive crowds and finished with his inflammatory confrontation of our teenage wunderkind.
In between, he won admiration and at times affection… but at the end, he was booed from the stage.
Perhaps it was always destined to end that way, and maybe that was more natural anyway.
He finished grizzled and abrasive, having started young and volatile.
On his maiden Test tour here, Kohli’s career was somewhat in limbo.
It was said he was a player who oozed aggression and attitude, if not always good judgment.
His century in Adelaide in January 2012 was an innings to flesh the bones of his case to be a long-term Test cricketer.
The next time through, he made 692 runs in four Tests, averaging 86.5, including four centuries… the summer of 14/15 belonged to Kohli and Steve Smith.
The time after, he led India to its first series victory here.
In all, he played 30 Test matches against Australia and made 9 centuries.
But the mark of greatness… 7 of those centuries were made in Australia.
His valedictory innings in Perth at the start of last summer stood him behind only distant echoes Wally Hammond and Jack Hobbs for hundreds in this country.
The phenomenon of Kohli, having observed him through portions of his career, was his magnetic presence not only at the crease but in the field.
He drew every eye, and the game revolved around him.
I was there one morning in Bengaluru when he altered the course of a Test match through his sheer force of personality.
Australia had beaten India in Pune and skittled them for 189 at the start of the second Test, and the tourists were cruising on morning 2, so Kohli threw a ball directly at Dave Warner’s head.
It was deliberately provocative and quite outrageous, and it made the game a tinderbox.
Kohli took command of the environment from the field.
He roused the crowd as surely as Hulk Hogan in his pomp.
India fought back and overwhelmed Australia, and the end of the series was in the grip of an international incident.
Kohli was not only unapologetic… he managed to blame Australia, who he accused of cheating in their use of the DR, such was his way.
He once hijacked the crowd in Perth when Australia was completely unsure how to play in the aftermath of Sandpapergate, and that incident helped Tim Paine figure out how to lead.
But elsewhere, when Kohli didn’t like fans in England taunting Steve Smith over the infamous incident, he stepped forth to quiet the madding crowd.
And thus there was nuance to our relationship with him… a statesman and an antagonist all at once.
Peter Lalor suggests this morning, nobody is irreplaceable, but nobody can replace Virat.
That feels about right.
Our great nemesis has left the game… whatever will we do now
