Virat Kohli's reign: A glance at three of India’s most remarkable wins under his captaincy

Virat Kohli’s reign as the Indian captain in Test cricket ushered in a new dawn, an incarnadine dawn that would see superstars being forged and supernovas rain down. Fortresses were breached, the cricketing yards were set aflame by magnificent cricketing embers and the tectonic foes of Test cricket trembled.

In the wake of Virat Kohli’s farewell from Test cricket, here’s looking back at three impeccable wins under the reign of the King, where India defied the odds, they defied the unimaginable, unthinkable and went onto win over the world. They embraced the revolution and lit up the universe with a heightened livery of dominance.

Mastery at the Mecca:

It was back in 2002 when Sourav Ganguly redefined India’s exploits away from home by waving his jersey in response to Andrew Flintoff’s antics in Wankhede. 19 years after that India set foot in The Home of Cricket, Lord’s again, primed with hope, belief and a captain named Virat Kohli. It is not that England hadn’t heard or experienced the might of Kohli but this Test was special for all the disparate reasons. After the spoils were shared in the opening Test, India had their sights set on the English forces.

The visitors got off to a grandiloquent start, thanks to Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul who laid the foundation. Virat Kohli, himself came up with a resilient 42, as India posted 364 in the first innings. England rode high on Joe Root’s brilliance, surging ahead of India’s total by 27 runs in the first innings. The second innings got bumpy for the batters as wickets started toppling at jet speed. Apart from Ajinkya Rahane’s valiant 61, there wasn’t much to hope for until an unlikely alliance of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah saved the day for the Indians. The duo posted a partnership of 89 runs for the ninth wicket.

With 272 runs needed to win, England had the firepower and the sequence that they called ‘Bazball’ to challenge the might of the Indian bowlers. Before India took the yard, Virat Kohli told his bowlers, “Give them hell for those 60 overs.” Hell it was that India offered to England as Mohammed Siraj combined perfectly with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma to hammer away at the English forces. India skittled out their counterparts for a mortifying 120, securing a monumental win by 151 runs. This win was a crucible forged in Virat’s fire. He himself was stoked up for every single ball that was bowled and ensured that India never really dropped their eyes off the ball. He was that one true general who would believe in his soldiers and till the time India had their victory, he kept on cheering his men.

Storm of resilience in the Garden City:

Away from home, a defeat may not be the best result but the criticism is far less. However, the moment when it happens at home, things go all haywire, all crazy and players need to start rethinking their strategies and priorities. Back in 2017, when India suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Australia in Pune in the opening Test match of the series, they had to come up with something very special. The next Test was in Namma Chinnaswamy and the surface on offer was a deadbeat flat track.

Much to India’s woes, they had a major batting slump in the first innings. Despite KL Rahul’s 90, the rest of the batters were in a rush to head back to the pavilion and India was bundled out for 189. Nathan Lyon’s superlative eight-fer left India reeling. Australia did get a fine start as David Warner and Matt Renshaw put up a fine stand but the Indian bowlers managed to reel their counterparts back in. A special show from Ravindra Jadeja claiming six crucial wickets left Australia skittled out for 276.

It wasn’t the most pompous of showdowns for India with the bat again. Cheteshwar Pujara and KL Rahul chimed in with crucial strands of resilience. Ajinkya Rahane had a good day out as India could manage 274, setting a target of 188 runs for the Aussies. Déjà vu of India submitting for a second time on the row was on the horizon. Virat Had a long and nice chat ahead of his team taking the yard and what followed thereafter was a showdown from the cricketing heavens. Ravichandran Ashwin breathed fire as Australia was soon wobbling and stuttering. A six-fer showdown from Ash reduced the Aussies to ashes, wrapping them up for a paltry 112 as India secured a phenomenal win by 75 runs. That was the resilience that India inculcated from Virat. The man wore his heart on the sleeve and on the ground, he was always hunting for glory.

Resurrection in the Redbacks’ den:

2018 saw the birth of a new dawn for Team India. They were travelling Down Under and they had a challenge to brave. A challenge that had instilled fears in the hearts of the biggest warriors, irrespective of the nations that they have represented. Whether it was Wally Hammond, or Len Hutton, Faf du Plessis or Kevin Pietersen, the fears of Adelaide were always doing the rounds.

The den of the Redbacks, the South Australian cricket team, Adelaide Oval had always savoured an element of drama. The opening Test of what was going to be a trailblazer of history in the forthcoming days, saw India lock horns with Australia in Adelaide. Batting first India could manage 250 on the board, thanks to Cheteshwar Pujara’s relentless defiance. India fought back in the exact same measure and all Australia could do was just watch in blatant disappointment.

A collective showdown of ingenuity from the Indian bowlers bundled them out for 235. Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin claimed six wickets between themselves. Virat, who missed out on scoring big with the bat, was thoroughly vocal throughout the game to leave the Aussies rattled.

The second innings saw India fight back strongly and courtesy of a good show from the top-order, India piled up 307, thereby setting a target of 323 runs. The numbers had an element of scare for both India and Australia. The Aussies had significant batting firepower and could have easily walked away to victory wherein anything north of 300 in a fourth inning of a Test match can be daunting for the batters. Shaun Marsh looked good for his 60 but the Indian bowlers kept on chipping away at the wickets in regular intervals.

Reduced to 228/8, India believed that they had already pocketed the game and that is when things went terribly wrong for them. Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood came together and the Indian bowling unit dripped with frustration. It was eventually Kohli’s call to get Bumrah onboard that returned Cummins to the pavilion. However, Hazlewood and Lyon continued to push back. After a significant show between the two, it was Ravichandran Ashwin who got the better of Hoff as India pocked the first Test of the series, thereby erupting in unseen raptures. VK’s persistence till the very end is what set the tone for Team India in place.