Shortly after the high of winning his first ODI World Cup, Kohli made his Test debut on June 20, 2011 with India cap No. 269 on the tour of West Indies but returned 76 runs across three Tests.

As the golden era of India’s Test batting ended, Kohli threw his hat in the ring to become a flag bearer in future with his maiden ton at Adelaide in January 2012.

Bright signs in rainbow nation

Though India lost the two-Test series 0-1 to South Africa in 2013, Kohli’s 119 and 96 at Johannesburg were signs of him taking charge.

With 134 runs in five Tests in England in 2014, Kohli failed miserably against seam and swing with James Anderson at his pomp. It was a huge setback for the young batter who had established his supremacy in ODI format and was being perceived as the next Indian batting star.

India’s tour of Australia in 2014-15 witnessed a far more disciplined and determined Kohli, who gave the opponents a hard time. He began with 115 and 141 at Adelaide and by the end of the tour, he had 692 runs at 86.50 with four centuries and two fifties.

His twin tons in Adelaide showed his special bond with the venue but as the tour progressed, Kohli kept having run-ins with Australia players, including Mitchell Johnson.

“I’m not there to take to some unnecessary words or chats from someone. I’m going there to play cricket, back myself. There’s no good reason that I should respect unnecessarily some people when they are not respecting me,” he had said.

By the end of the tour, Kohli was India’s full-time Test captain.

The start was shaky as Sri Lanka beat India by 63 runs in the first Test but India struck back hard defeating Sri Lanka by 278 runs in Colombo and won the three-Test series.

Yet to prove himself in England as a batter, a challenge which Kohli by his own admission did not rate very high, Kohli scored first of his six double centuries by scoring 235 in Mumbai against England as India crushed them 4-0.

Kohli’s peak batting prowess in 2016-17 saw him flaying Sri Lanka with consecutive double tons of 213 and 243 at Kolkata and Nagpur, respectively.

Mastering England in 2018

With all eyes on Kohli, he towered above the rest with 593 runs in five Tests (two 100s, three 50s at 59.30) during the England tour starting with a splendid 149 at Birmingham.

South Africa bore the brunt when Kohli hit 254 not out for his highest Test score in Pune in 2019.

Aggression personified, Kohli’s India stunned the much-fancied Australia side and became the first team from Asia to win a Test series Down Under in nearly seven decades.

Talking to the stump-mic in Cape Town in 2022

Furious after a leg-before appeal was turned down against South Africa’s Dean Elgar, a furious Kohli walked up to the stump mic and said, “Focus on your team as well when they shine the ball, not just the opposition”, suggesting manipulation with the ball and making an indirect remark on the infamous ‘sandpapergate’ episode. (PTI)