Virat Kohli's journey from angry young man to pillar of Indian cricket

There was a time when Virat Kohlis coach and guide Raj Kumar was worried about his pupil going astray The under19 World Cup triumph at Kuala Lumpur had brought Virat unprecedented fame and there was a distinct change in his behaviour He was seen as brash but not at the cost of his discipline Virat had never been accused of indiscipline in his junior days and once he wore the India colours he learnt to maintain his cool in explosive situations As an eighteen yearold Virat was not different from any other boy next door who wanted to have fun Fame had transformed his lifeBeing famousHe was picked up by RCB for IPL and distractions came to threaten his game and slow down his development There was a lot of partying and since he was a star Virats presence at such events became part of the RCB cricket culture which was a sharp contrast to the Mumbai Indians uncompromising policy to sponsor its teams postmatch celebrations The BCCI subsequently put a stop to these private parties organised by the franchises There is an interesting anecdote involving Virat and the franchise when he demanded a Business Class ticket for himself because a senior India player had availed of that facility It did not matter if Virat was refused the luxury of travelling Business Class but it became clear that the young man was going to demand what was due to him It was true that Virat would not take nonsense from anyone because he was aware of his position and rights Virats coach played his part superbly ldquoMy role required strict supervision because I had seen many youngsters spoilt by early fame I was never really worried about Virat but I had to be careful He was young and I decided to spend more and more time with him Kept an eye on himrdquo said the coach A senior Delhi and India player was instrumental in making Raj Kumar realise the importance of shepherding his talented and star student Reign him in the player told Raj KumarVirat quickly recovered to regain his focus He knew the star that he had become was because of cricket Nothing else mattered and the lesson was learnt in quick time ldquoHe was never insolent He was aggressive but never disrespectfulrdquo affirmed pace bowler Ashish Nehra Confidence was erroneously portrayed as arrogance in Virats case The confidence to pull off a miraculous result was his strength Virat made no attempt to hide his passion A bouncer would evoke a strong response like stepping out the next ball ldquoI would shout to him to stay calm if someone bounced the ball because I was sure Virat would step out next ball to hit the bowler It was aggression and not arrogance It was confidencerdquo insisted Raj Kumar As Virat rose in stature Raj Kumar tightened his observation ldquoI reminded him once in a while that everything would follow provided he never compromised with his cricket The hard work of the academy would go to dust if he made mistakes after having established himself It was stressful only for a brief while because I always knew Virat was not the one to go astrayrdquo Raj Kumar said with prideDelhis leaderFor his elevation to captaincy at Delhi Virat had former Bihar and Delhi batsman Hari Gidwani to thank Gidwani was a stylish righthander who was unfortunate not to have played for India Gidwani was a conscientious selector and chiefly instrumental in pushing Virat as the best candidate to lead Delhi Gidwani convinced his colleagues in the panel to appoint the twentyoneyearold Virat ldquoI backed him because I had heard about him and then seen him lead in the Under19 World Cup He came across as a brilliant communicator and that was the quality a captain needed the mostExcerpted from Driven ndash The Virat Kohli Story by Vijay Lokapally published by Bloomsbury