Could see in 2011 that Virat Kohli was taking his game to next level, reveals VVS Laxman

When Virat Kohli made his Test debut back in 2011 against the West Indies, he was already a mainstay in the ODI side and thus, expectations were high when the Delhite donned the whites for the first time. However, a then 23-year-old Kohli had a forgettable start to his Test career, scoring a total of just 76 runs and in no time, there were doubts over whether he would cut it in the game’s longest format.

Kohli’s rough start continued for over a year into his Test career, but eventually, he turned his fortunes around to establish himself as one of the key players in the team. Legendary Indian batsman VVS Laxman, who batted at No.4 when Kohli made his Test debut, however, has revealed that he was never in doubt and asserted that he could see Kohli taking his game to the next level in Tests, as early as 2011 against the Windies.

"I really admire the intensity Virat Kohli brings to the game because when he started off in 2010-11 against the West Indies in which I played with him, you could see that he was taking his game to the next level, with every season he just kept on getting better," Laxman told TOI.

Intensity is as much a part of Kohli’s game as anything else and him wearing his heart on his sleeves has meant that he’s often portrayed an extremely energetic, pumped-up persona on the field to keep his juices flowing. Laxman admitted that he feared Kohli’s intensity might lead to him getting burned out, but expressed his relief on seeing the Indian skipper not drop his level over the course of time. 

"I was really worried about whether this intensity would fade out eventually because before each and every match, even in his warm- ups his high intensity was visible and I thought that will burn-out, but not even in a single over ever did we see him losing the intensity which is commendable.”