It’s hard to imagine what could’ve been running in the mind of a young Virat Kohli when he was asked to walk out with Gautam Gambhir to open in the first one-dayer against Sri Lanka. As he faced 22 balls, struck a boundary, scored 12 runs and then lost his wicket to Nuwan Kulasekara — all in less than 25 minutes — Kohli first experienced what pressure meant at the highest level.

“My father passed away when I was 18 and it was a shock that I’m yet to get over. But it did make me a lot tougher mentally. Today, being able to cope with pressure is a way of life,” he says. The 94 he scored for Delhi on the day his father passed away, and numerous innings of significance at the India A level, have all brought him to the point from where every emerging cricketer begins to focus on the big leap.

Starting early

“There is always pressure and you need to deal with it. I have always believed in my ability,” says Kohli. No wonder then, that making his debut against the Lankans in their own backyard in place of an injured Sehwag didn’t worry Kohli as much as it could have. What came to fore in the series was his positive approach and the confidence that made him look comfortable.

“I was nervous when I was asked to open but it wasn’t like I was opening the innings for the first time. The crowd pressure and playing against (Chaminda) Vaas affected my performance a little. But after the first game I started to believe in myself more,” says Kohli.

He says that because he’s been playing in the middle-order for long, he’s accustomed to a different mental set-up. As a middle-order batsman, “one has to be prepared for a lot of things.” With Tendulkar and Sehwag sure to return, Kohli knows that for sometime in the future he’ll have to settle for a place on the bench. “Let’s see what happens. Everything keeps happening all the time,” he says with a wave of his hand.

Long way to go

Dav Whatmore, who coached India’s under-19 World Cup winning squad says Kohli’s got the ability but still has to truly prove himself. “There is no doubt about his potential but he has just played only one series. Let him play some more matches and then he will be in a better position to judge for himself. There is no doubt in his ability,” he says.

Kohli might have proven he’s good enough to reach where he has, but now the pressure is on him to stay there.