Virat is future of India, says Fletcher

In the pink of form, youngster seems ready to make natural progression to the Test fold

A younger, more excitable Kohli would have fallen into the trap, but the Delhi lad showed remarkable temperament to cocoon himself from the provocations. All he did was exchange a few words with Martin before turning to the umpire to notify him.

Many would have expected Kohli to do the bat-brandishing or dance down the track to loft him into the stands in reply to Martin’s incitements. But there were only nudges into the gaps for singles and twos, forcing Martin to abandon his aggressive ways.

It was just a glimpse of the improvement in attitude Kohli has made over the last year or so, and coach Dunch Fletcher was hugely impressed with the young man. “Virat is the future of India. There was a time when he was a bit hard on himself, and he didn’t get runs initially. The finest aspect about Virat is that when he or the team is under pressure, he puts his mind to the job. It’s a rare quality,” Fletcher said.

Kohli made 199 runs from five matches with two fifties at 39.80. Those numbers might not exactly inspire awe, but they reflect his consistency over a series. A combination of consistency and unflappable temperament makes him a prime pick for the Test series beginning on Monday.

It also offers him a perfect stage to understand the nuances of Test cricket because this West Indian side is not the intimidating force of the past. Kohli can get a feel of the longer version without putting himself under pressure before taking on bigger opponents at a bigger stage.

There might be an argument that S Badrinath should be picked ahead of Kohli simply because the Tamil Nadu batsman is much senior in the circuit and has been waiting for a chance to make a Test comeback.

But here we should consider that Kohli has made tremendous strides as a batsman, and it will be better to give him an early chance to make that natural progression to the Test side.

It also gives him ample time to learn from the mistakes and failures that are bound to come at this level. That experienced players like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be around him will give him a splendid chance to learn from players who have been successful in top-flight cricket.

Fletcher agreed. “It’s a huge thing for these young players to have players like Dravid, Laxman and Dhoni around to learn from. Even I am learning from them as Gary Kirsten told me about the advantages he had while having chats with players like Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman. These youngsters have a golden chance to learn and make progress,” Fletcher said. Time for Kohli to make a beginning?