THE only word that best-describes the achievement of iconic Indian cricketer Virat Kohli is ‘tremendous !!’ That he has equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 centuries in one-day-international segment, is not a matter of just numbers, but also a matter of his conscious capability-building since the evening about twenty years ago when his coach told him to rise above the mundane if he wanted to have his name inscribed in cricket’s history in golden letters. Since that evening, with lengthening shadows in the background, Virat Kohli has done exactly that -- rising above the mundane. In the process, he discarded whatever passed as ‘mundane’ and accepted whatever was magnificent. The 49th century in one-day-internationals is, therefore, only a natural progression of that young resolve so many years ago. The next marker of excellence -- reaching the magical figure of 50 ODI centuries -- is now only a matter of time that will not be too distant in future. It is pointless to recall all the batting statistics of Virat Kohli. For, at such points in one’s journey to ever higher levels of excellence, numbers only act as pushers of the ever ephemeral claim to greatness. The numbers, thus, act as a padding up of the claim that is forever itching to get expressed.

 

At this particular point in time, this is all that should be said about Virat Kohli. Equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s record is certainly an achievement of the ‘next’ level for Virat Kohli. But then, metaphorically speaking, wasn’t he doing that run by run, score by score, half-century by half-century, century by century all along?! For, it was clear not just to others who watched cricket but also to he himself that one day Virat would close in and level-up and go beyond Sachin Tendulkar at some point in his illustrious career. Yet, when that moment actually, Virat Kohli became emotional -- just as did everybody who is connected with cricket in any capacity (which included even watching the game from the stands or from the cosy drawing-room sofas). So, in other words, what happened at Kolkata was not just a statistical achievement of a milestone, but a spiritual rise of a little boy to a definitive greatness -- endorsed by the world. And among the watchers of that moment was Sachin Tendulkar the Greatest, overjoyed and overtaken by emotion. For him, as for anybody in a position like his, that must have been a moment he was waiting for -- somebody to go beyond his own level of greatness.

 

The purpose here is never to enter the dangerous and unholy game of comparison. The purpose is to emphasise the importance of benchmarking Sachin Tendulkar provided to cricket. Cricket -- like any and every other game -- has many such benchmarks. And men of the merit and ‘madness’ of Virat Kohli are often engaged in the quest of ‘belittling’ those. For, benchmark is not just a point in statistics or performance standards, but a scaled up position in the continuous human quest of perfecting and perpetuating the search of greatness. Virat Kohli’s achievement has to be viewed from such a perspective. At 35, he still has some years to go, and he must keep going until his career’s final day comes. There is no doubt that going by his current physical and mental conditions, Virat Kohli should keep playing at least for another 3-4 years. This is not just a fans’ wish, but possibly an ordainment by Providence. In his case, statistical details matter only for the sake of record. More importantly, what matters is Virat Kohli’s earnest desire to prove that his ‘best’ is yet to come. In our small way, we wish and pray that may Virat’s ‘best’ never come -- so that he never stops.