Virat Kohli Was Test Cricket’s Biggest Drawcard

It can be a thankless gig trying to promote Test cricket. The traditional format, played in white attire and stretching five days to feel quite archaic in these furious times, has for some time faced major question marks over its future amid declining popularity and relevance in pockets of the world.

But there were no headaches for marketers when Virat Kohli was playing in a format he has helped keep afloat through his advocacy and endless passion. The past tense, unfortunately, has to be used with confirmation on Monday that Kohli has retired from Test cricket after an illustrious 14-year career spanning 123 Tests.

He averaged 46.85 and hit 30 centuries, many all-time knocks. Numbers don’t do him justice. There are batters will better stats, but the game has never had a more transcendent figure. Kohli has been cricket’s Elvis or The Beatles.

It all sounds hackneyed and so too stating that Kohli has helped ensure the survival of Test cricket in these changing times. But if powerhouse and money-spinner India pull the plug on it then that’s the end of Test cricket.

Kohli’s unwavering passion for the traditions of Test cricket has been the format’s best advertisement. He ensured a slew of his younger fans weaned on T20, perhaps who wouldn’t normally sit through such a long-winded game, have become Test cricket converts.

He was a magnet for fans determined to follow his every move. Being married to a Bollywood star only added to the celebrity and aura.

There have been plenty of famous Test cricketers. His legendary predecessor Sachin Tendulkar, an almost god-like figure in India, and Australian maverick Shane Warne, who lived a life of glitz and glamor, were similarly box office and, quite frankly, better Test cricketers.

But they mostly played before this social media age defined by clicks and the sheer fight for attention. Cricket is not even just fighting against other sports, but also its own with the slew of formats and franchise leagues creating utter confusion amid a congested calendar.

Kohli arrived right when social media was taking off and he’s been by far the biggest star of this era. It was a whirlwind being up close to him and watching the circus unfold.

Even training sessions he didn’t attend were manic. Before the first Test in Perth against Australia last November, which ended up being Kohli’s final Test series, India resorted to the rather drastic measure of closing off their training sessions to the public with big shade cloth covering the entirety of the WACA nets.

It led to the bizarre sight of fans walking around with ladders in an effort to get a glimpse. They weren’t the only ones. Desperate photographers, with their bosses’ demands ringing in their ears, were also equipped.

But some of them weren’t au fait with cricket and had no idea who Kohli was. So they resorted to asking the throng of miffed Indian fans astonished that someone really had no clue about their hero, arguably the most famous person in the world’s most populated country.

It was only then that one frustrated photographer realized he had been snapping the wrong player the whole time, loudly expressing his annoyance with several choice words.

Kohli was nowhere to be sighted, with the veteran skipping India’s first training session of a gruelling tour. While the cameramen and scribes eventually gave up as their deadlines loomed, hardy fans stayed, still believing Kohli might just magically appear right at the very end.

Suddenly, it appeared their dreams had been answered. “Shot, Virat!” exclaimed a passerby who had jumped onto a vantage point. But his grin from ear to ear gave away that he was merely a troll. Those fans who had desperately scaled the fence were left bitterly disappointed when they realized the batter in the nets was left-handed.

Kohli’s massive fanbase – he’s one of the most followed athletes on social media – means he reels in the clicks at an unparalleled rate. He’s especially a walking dollar sign for editors of floundering publications.

Kohli during the Australian tour was essentially anchored to the back page of the tabloids resorting to great lengths to get a rise out of the Indian fans. You can just imagine those shameless editors giddy at their skyrocketing metrics, showing off the outrageous figures to their gobsmacked bosses.

No other current cricketer generates such attention. It’s also partly due to him being so polarizing. Kohli doesn’t have close to 100 per cent approval rating. He dishes it out to opponents on-field in a similar manner to his cutting retorts at pesky reporters.

Hard-bitten fans outside of India, especially in Australia, see Kohli as not just a provocateur, but above the laws of the game.

Like how he escaped a ban – although he was fined – after bumping into Australian teenager Sam Konstas during the Boxing Day Test.

Whether he was hitting a sublime cover drive, starting a physical altercation or gesturing wildly at the Indian supporters in the terraces to make noise, Virat Kohli ensured all eyes were on him.

Even when he wasn’t there.