The beginning of an era

The grind of the summer cricket circuit in Delhi introduces a player to the harsh realities of competitive sport. Reputations are made and marred in conditions best described as unfriendly. The local champions wait to maul the established stars and even stalwarts like Kapil Dev, Ashok Malhotra, N.S. Sidhu, Yashpal Sharma and Manoj Prabhakar have experienced it for years. Virat was groomed in such situations and it helped him shape his game. It trained him to fight tooth and nail. Moreover, nothing has been handed over to him on a silver platter.

Virat’s success as a junior cricketer preceded his elevation to the national team. It was a star-studded line up with Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni as the guiding force. Virat was diligent in looking to make his place and clearly, it was not going to be easy.

The team was an experimental outfit and the national selectors were engaged in an exercise to raise a potent combination for the World Cup three years away. Virat was aiming to become an integral part of that team.

Was he fast-tracked into the national side? There were apprehensions whether or not Virat would do justice to his potential. Questions were raised about him and if he could command a place in the national eleven on the basis of his show in the junior tournaments.

He was twenty and, self-admittedly, ready to launch his career. The national selectors deserved a pat on the back for keeping their faith in this prodigiously gifted batsman, who knew only one way to play cricket — the aggressive way.

K. Srikkanth, the chairman of the national selection committee, must have seen a bit of himself in Virat. Srikkanth was adept at wading into the opposition with daring shots - hitting the Pakistan stalwart Imran Khan behind the bowler’s head was one unforgettable example — and never compromising on his natural flair.

Srikkanth was a delight at the crease. So was Virat, who insisted upon batting on his own terms. According to Virat, if the ball had to be hit, it had to be hit. Quite the way Viv Richards and Sehwag played their game, hard and precise.

The National selectors, Srikkanth, Yashpal Sharma, Raja Venkat, Surendra Bhave and Narendra Hirwani were unanimous in assessing Virat as a tremendous potential in limited overs cricket. ‘He was scoring runs. There were others scoring runs too, but Virat impressed us with his attitude.

His body language conveyed his confidence and the zeal to dominate the crease. We had picked Murali Vijay too, but there was no doubt in our mind that Virat was the big one for the future. The way he handled himself on and off the field was exemplary,’ said Bhave, with the experience of playing in 97 first-class matches.

The collective view of the selectors was that Virat would take a long time to succeed in Test cricket. ‘We had no apprehensions about his abilities. We knew when push came to shove, he would not falter. He had his plans in place and his vision was crafted on the basis of his well-structured game. His temperament was what I marvelled at. Superb,’ Bhave raved.

Raja Venkat recalled the Deodhar Trophy held at Baroda (March 2010), which North won under the captaincy of Virat. ‘The way he led the team to victory showed that he had the capacity to command respect.

The consistency factor was significant in his growth, but I have seen few players with such assurance and self-belief. And look how his batting has evolved from primarily on-side play to off-side. Of late, you can see him execute the sweep and the square cut profitably. It is this innovation that helped Virat grow.’

Known to grab an offer with both hands, Virat was game to opening the innings in his first ODI at Dambullah on 18 August 2008, two years after his first—class debut. ‘I was not surprised by his decision to accept the responsibility because the middle-order was packed,’ said Raj Kumar.

Virat was not oblivious to the fact that he had to force his way into the team and any batting position was welcome. His stints in Delhi cricket had taught him to be battle-ready and this was the stage for him to show his mettle.

The opener’s position was new to Virat. He had never opened the innings in any grade of cricket. And here he was, assuming the responsibility on debut. It was baptism by fire. He saw Gambhir getting cleaned upon the second ball, by the wily left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas. This cricket was different and he was up against a mean bowler. Virat’s contribution was a disappointing score of 12, but not before playing his patent flick off Vaas.

Virat buried the failure of the first match that India eventually lost. He came up with a buoyant 35 in the game at the same venue, two days later. He would remember the match for his maiden encounter with the legendary off—spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan.

He faced an over from Murali, got five runs including an edged boundary, and made a few mental notes. He would have to earn his runs at this level. He had begun to enjoy his learning process. Having taken guard at No. 2, Virat took the strike in the next three matches and produced scores of 25, 54 and 31, as India pocketed the series 3-2.

Extracted from ‘Driven…’ `399, with permission from Bloomsbury.