Virat Kohli - A legend and arguably the greatest of this generation

The year was 2008 when a West Delhi boy was given the captaincy of India's under-19 team and the name of the guy who was unknown to many back then was Virat Kohli. The story of India's milestone man started at a very early age when he led India to an under-19 World Cup triumph which set the tone for the things that were to follow for the right-handed you batter from Delhi.

With the World Cup victory as captain, Virat Kohli had announced his arrival. The chatter around the young cricketer had started as many felt that this boy had the potential to be something great. In India, some cricketers get fast-tracked who the team management or the selectors feel are ready for the international stage and Virat Kohli was one of the rare few who make it to this list.

Soon after, Virat Kohli was drafted into the senior team and made his debut in the ODI series against Sri Lanka as many youngsters have time and again done in the history of Indian cricket. Since then, there was no looking back for Virat Kohli in ODI's and T20Is.

However, it was Test cricket that Kohli has been the most passionate about and he got his debut game in 2011 against the West Indies at the Sabina Park. But, Virat Kohli did not have a memorable debut. He had been picked in the playing XI as batting great Sachin Tendulkar had opted out of the series. Kohli batted at number 5 in both innings of the game but could muster only 19 runs in the game.

But something changed in Kohli he realised the importance of the game and worked really hard. The right-handed batters' passion for Test cricket drove him and he worked on his game and matured a great deal. From thereon, Virat Kohli put a price on his wicket and the 2012 Test series against Australia was where he started rising as a Test batsman.

The fiery young batsman was being seen as one of the greatest and the successor to Sachin Tendulkar who almost has every batting record to his name. The technique and discipline that was required in Test cricket is something that Virat Kohli had which is one of the biggest reasons for his success in the longest format of the game.

Virat Kohli smashed bowlers all around the world and was scoring centuries with so much ease that it looked as if he would break every batting that has ever existed. Soon enough, he was being seen as India's next captain, a role which was extremely challenging because of what his predecessor MS Dhoni had achieved.

MS Dhoni did not have the greatest record as Test captain and when in 2014 Kohli was handed the captaincy of the longest format it was not an easy job for him.

But, Virat Kohli's passion for Test cricket drove him to where no Indian test captain could reach. He went on to captain India in 68 Test matches from 2014 to 2022 and won 40 Test matches. The win percentage is staggering which no other Test skipper in India's history has been able to achieve. With a win percentage of 58.8, he is only behind Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting which goes on to show how well he did during his tenure.

The thirty-three-year-old batter has 7,962 runs from 99 games with an average of 50.39 and 27 centuries to his name which is phenomenal in Test cricket.

Even after all the things that he has achieved, playing 100 Test matches for the country has to be the biggest achievement of his career. Many great cricketers have played for Test cricket for India but only 12 have managed to play 100 Tests for India.

Just to name a few, legends like Bishan Singh Bedi, Ravi Shastri, MS Dhoni, Mohammed Azharuddin, Gautam Gambhir, Gundappa Vishwanath and Zaheer Khan have not been able to play the milestone mark of 100 Tests for India. This statistic and the list of players that feature here can explain how playing 100 Test matches is the greatest achievement in Virat Kohli's career.

No other player from this generation of Indian cricketers has been able to achieve this feat and the former Indian captain should be celebrated for what he has done for Indian cricket and how he transformed the Test team and made it one o the best in the world during his tenure as Test captain.