The long and arduous wait for Virat Kohli’s 75th international century has been extended yet again. It’s been 784 days since he’s had one, the longest he’s ever gone without, and a period during which both his life and cricket have changed dramatically. He became a father, gave up captaincy, and his batting halo has only recently begun to fade. But, despite the changes in his life and career, and the intrigue surrounding his decision to step down as Test and T20 Captain is not yet over. He still has not lost his passion, intensity, drive, or energy on the field, the qualities that define him.
Even in ODIs, the single format where captaincy was stolen from him, relinquishing it hasn’t put out the fire of ambition in him. When fielding, he might be quieter, he might not exhort the bowlers as strongly as he did when he was captain, he might not walk or run as quickly as he did when he was captain, and the stump mic might not capture his chatter’s continuous hard-edged tone.
When fielding, however, Kohli’s job is no longer to infuse energy and intensity into his teammates—the captain’s job is to conduct the orchestra, and Kohli is no longer one of them. If he had sprinted around the field as animatedly as he had when he was captain, it would have been strange.
It would have portrayed him as obnoxious and overbearing, eager to impose his persona even when he wasn’t the captain. As a result, he was sedated. There were no hyper-charged celebrations, no fist-pumping or vein-popping, and no sassy farewells. As he walked back to the dressing room, he even had a congratulatory conversation with de Kock.
Those were unmistakable indications that he was having a good time at the plate. When he isn’t, he becomes sombre and ponderous, doing his best to conceal his feelings. He let it flow, or more accurately, let it rip, here. In a broader sense, it didn’t matter that he fell 35 runs short of his 75th century, because there were enough signs and portents that he hasn’t lost any of his intensity and passion.
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