Mumbai: India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara could have been forgiven for feeling more than a little aggrieved when his dismissal drew hearty cheers from his home crowd at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
Apparently unconcerned that India had lost an important wicket from the second ball of the third day of the fourth Test against England, the crowd roared as Pujara trudged back to the dressing room.
Then, as a chant of “Koh-liiii! Kohli!” reverberated around the stadium and out across the Arabian Sea, India’s darling walked to the middle to take his guard.
Not since Sachin Tendulkar retired in 2013 has an Indian cricketer commanded the adulation that Virat Kohli is currently enjoying, and few would argue that he is not deserving of it.
The atmosphere at the Wankhede was reminiscent of the era when Tendulkar, a Mumbai native, used to walk out to bat at the same number four position.
Kohli, as perhaps he must, dismisses comparison with the batting great but it is clear that they have a similar appetite for runs.
During his career-high 235 in Mumbai, his third double century of the year, the Delhi batsman became the first Indian since Rahul Dravid in 2011 to accumulate more than 1,000 Test runs in a year.
His rich vein of form has not been restricted to the longest form of the game, however, and he is the first batsman to average over 50 in all formats as well as being the highest international run-scorer of 2016.
Kohli’s single-minded drive for excellence also echoes Tendulkar, who assiduously refined his craft to accumulate over 34,000 runs and 100 centuries in a 24-year career.
Like Tendulkar, Kohli has a near-flawless technique which helps him tackle pace and spin with equal ease and India look to him every time they hit choppy waters, as they did for two decades with the “Little Master”.
And, like Tendulkar, Kohli is rapidly becoming a darling of corporations keen to associate their brands with a player whose expressive nature has touched a nerve with India’s youth. All was not quite rosy.
