Kohli’s almost-spiritual balance – a bowler’s take

For all my favourite batsman Rahul Dravid's mastery at one drop, Kohli tends to inspire greater confidence as soon as he arrives at the crease in the same position. Like the other greats of Indian batting, he too is wristy, but cannot equal VVS in his elegance, nor GR Viswanath in the steely power with which he whipped the ball away on the on side – off the back or front foot.

He has almost every shot in the book, and if he could sweep and play the cut over third man, he could be Sachin Tendulkar's equal in strokemaking. Come to think of it, unlike Viswanath or Dravid, he does not square-cut that much, does he? He doesn't seem to be affected by personal milestones – no nervous nineties for him – and that’s one area in which he is clearly superior to Tendulkar.

Will Kohli break every batting record there is? Will he master English conditions? Will he win more matches off his own bat than any other Indian batsman? I suspect he will, sooner rather than later. For, he has arrived at a stage in his cricket career that appears meditative, almost spiritual in its sense of balance.