A hymned and celebrated superstar in every cricket playing nation on planet earth, this guy keeps challenging every former/ existing great to discover new superlatives to describe his iconic persona, says Monojit Lahiri.

Virat Kohli’s legacy in international cricket goes far beyond statistics, centuries, or match-winning chases; it is about mindset, leadership, fitness culture, and emotional intensity that redefined modern Indian cricket. From his dominance in ODI cricket to his transformative role as captain and global sports brand, Kohli symbolizes aggression with purpose, excellence with discipline, and passion with accountability. As fans await his return to the ODI arena, discussions around Virat Kohli’s impact, records, brand value, leadership style, and absence from Test and T20 formats continue to dominate cricket conversations worldwide, reaffirming why Kohli remains one of the most influential cricketers of the 21st century.  

“It is one of those rare, magical performances which fused blood and electricity in a startling mix. It pulled lightning from the sky.” Although an euphoric homage from celebrated theatre critic John Mason Brown to the late, legendary Lord Lawerence Olivier’s 1946 spell binding turn in and as Oedipus, it could have easily have echoed many of the spectacular heroics of Virat Kohli against his opponents. King Kohli and the God of Chase are only two giddy descriptions given to this 37-year-old icon. The Australian media, famous misers when praising opponents, pulled out the stops in ga-ga-ing over him. Even the great Ricky Ponting has gone on record to state that “Virat Kohli is the greatest ODI player I’ve ever seen.” So, what makes VK so special? Kohli ke peeche kya hai?

Sharp and close Kohli–watchers put it down to Ambition, Aggression, Attitude; Speed, Skill, Spectacle; Passion, Purpose, Perspective. More than any present Indian great, he represents the pulsating, new-age drive and energy to rocket India ahead. Playing hard and playing to win comes naturally to him. A brash and impulsive player in the early part of his career, he soon understood that game awareness is critical, as is fitness and consistency. Be a team player, raise the bar, motivate your team to forever seek the finishing line in fearless fashion, is his mantra. Along the way, his partnership with MS Dhoni and Ravi Shastri helped in his growth and maturity.

The Brand Called Kohli

At another level he remains the definitive poster-boy for STAR-appeal. In today’s market-driven world, dedicated to commercialize, glamourize and commodify everything, VK has emerged as a smoking red-hot brand!

Animated, expressive, colorful, gutsy, attractive, he has a mesmeric mass-connect across all segments of society. His body language, impish and mischievous while being deadly focused, automatically grabs both eyeballs and the collective imagination. States an Ad-guru, “VK is today’s numero-uno PR-friendly-brand-celeb who joins the dots and ticks the boxes in the object of desire quotient. For marketeers, performance and stats are never enough. Color, pizazz, cutting-edge brio, spirited animation unleashing infectious energy in a sexy tattooed body… that's the name of the game. Which brand-custodian can resist this?”

At present, he holds all the cards, along with chutzpah, the untraceable Jewish word which means cool nerves, outrageous effrontery and the ability to seductively communicate a sense of danger, always negotiable!

The Absence That Hurts

A young, dashing, dynamic, exciting sporting icon, forever wearing his heart and national colors on his sleeves, confident and ready to fight fire with fire in his turbo-charred mission to take his nation to the top… isn't it such a crying shame that we will only see VK next only on Jan 11 [ODI–New Zealand] since he has vanished from our Test and T20 formats?

God knows, the loss is comprehensively ours and we are poorer for that, because the blazing talent in both fitness and form remains matchless and regarding value addition to this great game, in terms of color and character he remains un-equated, unparalleled and unrivalled…

Waiting for Jan 11, King Kohli!