The year end of 2025 on the cricket scenario has undergone a pendulum swing in discovering the ultimate champion of champions in super batsman Virat Kohli’s comeback highest ODI centurion with 53 tons in surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s longstanding record to
an overall 85 international hundreds on scintilating back to back centuries versus South Africa following a decline leading apparent controversial forced test retirement during India’s disastrous 3-1 Australia March tour test humiliation that zig zagged from the high of a first test century to undone by Australia’s probing pacer off stump delivery.
It marked the worst period of the career of the man whose astounding batting feats had won him the reputation of King Kohli leading to a bitter internal rift with India’s head coach Gautam Gambir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar which is believed to have led to the icon abruptly chucking up his test career.
That Kohli and Sharma have stood up against such a dwarfing rocky wall that on the surface looked very much like seeing the end of their ODI careers with the duo reemerging against such a critical roaring human volcano ready to swallow them up to winning such a battle in their own different ways has been a triumph against adversary by sheer ability prevailing over such barriers.
If Kohli has resurfaced to being once again being hailed as King Kohli by cricket crazy Indians who had begun to doubt his ability by what has been a characteristic trade mark virtue of flaunting his batting self admittedly purely on his mental strength than preparedness in knocking out that school of thought of India’s Gambir-Agarkar driven coaching and management hierarchy, Sharma at age 38 emerging from an already written off hollow of an ageing too old frog to literally becoming an overnight fitness fanatic to be referred by the Indian media as a 28-year old and the world’s fittest man has been incredible best showcased to blazing back a trail to the Player of the Series in the recent ODI series in a triumphant return to Australian shores driven by a big ton.
The duos efforts with Kohli riding out of disaster after disaster double ducks to a brilliant comeback unbeaten 76 in the final ODI in a match winning bonding with a century up Sharma was a welcome return greeted by Indians though Gambir wrote it off as a lost series no cause to celebrate apparent play down of Kohli and Sharma.
The final hurrah granite of it has been an altogether changed outlook Sharma beginning to take on bowling attacks to shattering Shahid Afridi’s 351record for the most number of sixes 355. A record that also toppled at the expense of the Proteas in a Sharma-Kohli upswing with the former Indian ODI captain who had once again dictated things on his own terms with the bat to walking the walk in tub the growing peril on a century, the Kohli-Sharma alliance very much on show to muscling back a sagging Indian ODI team. At the top of his game was crowning himself the batsman with the zooming king of ODI sixes record 645 in all formats with Chris Gayle next best with 553.
Their reemergence has had an ironic twist to saving the day for Gambir whose loss record had created a massive lack of faith outcry in India for his removal.