Its started to grow on me
For a fan who started watching the game with the limited overs format taking the lead, it is very hard to get them interested in Test cricket. Especially when the team was going through a rough phase with repeated overseas losses and a major transition. The IPL taking over made it even harder for new fans to like the ebbs and flows of a slow, drenching Day 3 of a Test match. Virat made it happen.
I vividly remember the humiliation in England (2011–12) and Australia (2012–13). The Test team looked helpless overseas, and Indian batsmen just couldn't seem to get the hang of it. The misery continued in the home and away series against England in 2012 and 2014 respectively. It felt like India had lost its grip on the format that once defined greatness.
Virat was handed over the responsibility in the middle of a series against Australia when MSD decided to finally step away. It was a tough moment, but it also felt like the beginning of something new.
His 30 Test hundreds and a decent average of 46 surely paint a picture, but won't tell you about the service he did to the purest format of the game. Virat made watching Test cricket cool again. A lot of old and new cricket lovers across the world now wanted to see the animated young captain leading his team to audacious victories with a ferocious brand of cricket, a captain who liked to get under your skin, and a team that rallied behind their fearless leader.
India became a Test powerhouse from being on the brink of a total collapse. People started watching and admiring the beauty of Test cricket again. That's his legacy.
The pristine cover drive, the elegant on-drive towards mid-on and all those double centuries will keep defining his batting records. But they also made him a captain who stood for the team while leading from the front. There was a charm in seeing him coming out at 4 and slowly but steadily making his way through the runs. Virat, while batting, was lost in his own perfection, as if anything happening just doesn't matter to him. For fans, there isn't a bigger treat than watching your favourite batter beautifully scoring runs like that.
Like many others, I'm left with a sense of both awe and disbelief to see him go at 36, while being at supreme fitness and good form, from the format he considers the greatest of them all. But guess he knows better, as he has always been.. both while batting on tough bouncy pitches and while "giving them hell for 60 overs" on the field.
Goodbye, Captain. The game will remember you for your service.