BENGALURU: There was a time when Virat Kohli used to play international cricket at least once every week. Those days, though, are long behind him. These days, the 38-year-old is a one-format player with the ultimate aim of representing India at the 2027 World Cup.
On the evidence of the last few months, Kohli, who turned 38 on Thursday, could well be the best batter the country takes to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next year. He's playing with fresh vigour, a renewed purpose. That has translated to his batting. Just after Covid, when Kohli had endured a prolonged slump, it seemed like the music had died and the light had left the building.
Not anymore; now, there is a light around him. Divinity.
After his jaw-dropping century against the West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram in September, the former skipper had said this to the host broadcaster. "I got a challenge at this stage of my career to kind of up the ante and, you know, play a gear to higher end," Kohli had said after his 139 off 88. "Yeah, that was exciting for me to work on. Again, it excites you when you have to unlock a new version at this stage of your career, which will eventually help, you know, anything that you play for, be it playing for India or in the IPL (Indian Premier League). It's really helped me a lot to play with a free mind and I think that's what's working for me."
There was a time in his career when Kohli was the format's ultimate run-machine. But he had a very specific way. Manage risk, set his stall out, assess conditions and try to take it as deep as possible before exploding at the back end.
That has changed. The onus is on going from ball one. Just take his last three ODIs, excluding the one at New Chandigarh against West Indies where he was dismissed for zero. In Thiruvananthapuram, he had a four and a six off his first 10 balls. Against the same opponents in Guwahati, he had hit two fours and a six in the first 10 balls. Against New Zealand at Auckland, he had two boundaries. These are all signs that Kohli is continuing to evolve even a format he helped redefine over the last 15 years or so.
It's all part of the plan, though. "I promised myself I'm going to play positively because I can," Kohli continued in that interview to the broadcaster. "So I'm going to continue to play like that, but, you know, not be reckless. There is a fine line, which as a professional, as an experienced player, I should have the ability to execute in this way without, you know, playing reckless shots and get the team through."
The proof, to slightly tweak the original saying, is in his numbers since the beginning of 2025. He's striking at over 100 (for 2026 alone, he's scoring 120 runs per 100 balls faced). Consider this. Out of the 182 maximums he has hit in this format since making his debut more than 18 years ago, 31 — over 17 per cent — has come from the beginning of 2025 (just to give you a perspective, if he had been hitting 6s like this throughout his career, he would have been 416 maximums by now).
How did he become this batter? "I think to follow a free mind, you need a fit body," he continued in that interview. "So, for me, it works the other way around. I stay physically fit and then I'm able to visualise the game in the way that I want to play, which allows me the best chance to go out there and execute in the way that I did tonight (Thiruvananthapuram)."
In Auckland, Kohli had occupied a higher plane. On a difficult surface where run-scoring had proved tricky for the hosts, he batted in sixth gear. His 51-ball 74 (13x4, 1x6) belonged in a museum for the way in which he took on and dismantled the bowling. By the time he was done with the bowlers — bowlers of the calibre of Kyle Jamieson and Jacob Duffy — the asking rate had come down considerably.
When Kohli had decided to change his batting style, that metamorphosis had begun in front of our eyes and on TV screens. There were some ugly dismissals — teething problems — but it has all come together.
Now, he has eyes for only one thing. Something he confirmed to JioStar in an interview when West Indies were in India in September. “My dream," he had said, "is to play a match-winning, finishing knock in the finals (of the 2027 World Cup), like chasing a score. That's the ideal scenario. If it happens, great. If it doesn't happen, we win the World Cup, I'll be happy.”
The other teams have been put on notice.