In March 2007, an Indian team crashed out of a World Cup in the group stage after being upset by Bangladesh. Back home, the reaction was anger and swift. Indian cricket was in the doldrums, it was predicted. But as it often happens, in the seeds of defeat lay the father of victory.
Around the same time, Trans World Sport came to India to meet a young Delhi player whom they had heard much about. Virat Kohli had only made his first-class debut a year earlier and had just started playing for the India U-19s. But yet there was steel behind the young 18-year old's teenage demeanour.
"I'm basically an attacking batsman," says the youthful Kohli, providing a glimpse of the future. "I like to chase bowlers and hit them out of the ground."
And he kept his word. Eleven years later, Virat Kohli canters down the pitch and hits them wherever he pleases. The 18-year from Delhi has certainly grown up to be a cricketing phenomenon, hasn't he?
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