The script was written for Virat Kohli but nobody could read it..

'When the going gets tough, the tough gets going' couldn't be more relevant than right now as Virat Kohli dished out another masterclass when the odds were stacked highly against him. He was booed by the British public as he made his way to the middle and was greeted with a standing ovation as he left after scoring a magnificent 149. Virat is too good a player to not score a hundred in England so he was always going to succeed in England at some point and was there ever any doubt? But very few expected him to score a century as early as the 1st innings of the 1st test.  But it wasn't a typical Virat Kohli innings was it? This was probably the toughest of his 22 hundreds so far. Players have made some adjustments in the past to counter a particular weakness. When I think of adjustments, my memory straightaway takes me back to Sydney 2004 when Tendulkar didn't play a single cover drive on his way to a majestic 241 or to Matthew Hayden when he swept everything out his sight in 2001 to counter Harbhajan or to more recent one in 2012 when Kevin Pietersen smashed 180 in Mumbai where he swept, he reverse swept, he danced down the track and embarrassed Ashwin and Ojha. But the adjustment Kohli made was more of mental than technical. He was constantly shuffling across the off stump, he was standing outside the crease, he was taking the off stump guard at times but it was his determination which was the constant in what was an uncharacteristic Kohli century. Anderson's figures give no justice to the way he bowled because I think he was outstanding especially to Virat Kohli. There was so much hype around Anderson versus Kohli that it had to live up to the expectations and it did. Anderson was all over Kohli like a rash in the initial stages. He went past Kohli a number of times. He beat Kohli on the outside and the inside and he troubled Kohli left, right and center. He was even successful in getting Kohli to nick a couple. One of them carried to Dawid Malan at second slip but poor fellow couldn't hold onto a dolly. Kohli was on 21 and Nasser Hussain said on air- ' Now see how much it costs.' That's the kind of aura Virat Kohli has created of himself. That's why when Virat gives you a chance, you have to take it! Just imagine if that catch had been taken, what effect it might have had on Virat as well as what it might have done to boost Anderson's confidence. There was another opportunity when Virat nicked another one off Ben Stokes but was grassed by Dawid Malan again, far difficult than the first one! As there were talks about the heatwave, Thursday morning produced overcast conditions which made things even more difficult for Kohli as he saw things falling apart at the other end. I couldn't believe Kohli got through that spell from Ben Stokes because I thought Stokes was unplayable in that spell where he removed Rahane and Karthik.
Once Ashwin was gone and Kohli was left with numbers 9,10 and 11, he opened himself and flourished with a typical Kohli swagger attached to it. Ishant survived a couple of LBWs via DRS and eventually got out to Adil Rashid when Virat was on 97. Umesh had to play two balls and I couldn't think of a worse situation than Umesh being trapped plumb in front off a wrong'un. But he survived and Kohli reached the 3 figure mark with a hard push through cover point off Ben Stokes. A big 'come on' roar came in satisfaction and a kiss to his wedding ring in shear joy with a big smile. Once Virat had nothing to lose, he played almost every shot in the book which included the trademark cover drive which went burning the carpet splitting the field in half. But the damage had been done, the deficit had come down to 13 when Virat cut one straight into the hands of Stuart Broad at backward point. But the point had been proved, the horrors of 2014 had been put to bed and there was a man with tremendous determination and hunger to succeed wherever he plays. Virat isn't the most gifted cricketer like Sachin Tendulkar or Vivian Richards or Allan Border or Brian Lara but he has made himself what he is right now. 15 years down the line, Virat will look at this innings and giggle at himself thinking about the background and the build up around those 134 runs 4 years ago. Dickie Bird once said that Geoffrey Boycott was probably the best self-made player but there was perception that he played for himself. Nobody can ever say that Virat played for himself because when Virat has a good day, he makes sure his team has a great day! So what are we looking at? We are witnessing a modern master at the peak of his powers dectating the terms and a player who will be regarded as the best self-made player there has been in the history of the game.