INDIAN ATHLETE OF THE DECADE: VIRAT KOHLI
ATHLETE OF THE DECADE: LEBRON JAMES
Virat Kohli ended this decade quite like Sachin Tendulkar began it — his shoulders now burdened with the aspirations of a country. But Kohli’s greatest achievement, and there were many, was to help India move ahead, seamlessly, after Tendulkar retired. Simply put, he was Tendulkaresque in his appetite for hundreds, Ganguly-like as a leader, and Dhoni 2.0 in chases, which Kohli has turned into an art form.
His numbers this decade are staggering. Most international runs (20,871). Most hundreds across formats (69). Most fifties across formats (97). Most ODI tons (42). Most Test double centuries (7). No one, not even Tendulkar, had a streak quite like it.
But there are two more Kohli records that do a good job in summing up his incredible decade. No other player has faced more balls or batted more minutes in international cricket over this span than Kohli — which only indicates that every time the Indian cricket team took the field, chances were that Kohli was constructing yet another monumental knock.
Next big things usually faall well short of expectations, weigghed down by the myth of the legend they were primed to replace
There is still only one Ali, one Federer, one Messi, one Tigeer… the list is endless. But well against the run of play, sommething impossible happened in the world of basketball in the 20110s – the next Michael Jordan didn’tt just live up to the hype, he made the world of basketball begin its search for the next Lebron James.
MJ only acted in the movies; LJ has a storyline to command oneone. At the beginning of the decaddecade, he was rated as the most hated man in America. For, in 2010, James took the controversial decision to leave his home team, Cleveland Cavaliers, and join Miami Heat — becoming only the third reigning MVP to shift teams. With Heat, he ended his title drought, winning the Championship in 2011 and 2012.
Then came the move back to the Cavs in 2014, also amid much hate. Nothing less than the trophy would have redeemed the Cleveland’s prodigal son. They were 3-1 down in the NBA Finals of 2016, which James turned around almost single-handedly in Games 5 and 6, before his triple-double in Game 7 handed Cleveland its first championship across sports in 52 years. It gave James his salvation, and the 2010s its athlete of the decade.