Virat Kohli is the Cristiano Ronaldo of cricket.

By Simon Hughes
The Analyst

Virat Kohli's Test average of 53.40 is bettered by only Australia's Steve Smith among
current players

Not only super-skilled, he is a man on a mission - to make both himself and his team the best in
the world.

The intensity of both men's ambitions is obvious in their impassioned expressions and uber-
commitment. Powered by an innate desire, they are their team's driving force. They play with a
tangible emotion bordering on fury. Failure is not contemplated. Defeat is a personal insult.

But defeated India were the last time they toured England - in 2014 with MS Dhoni as captain -
and Kohli had a miserable time, averaging only 13 with the bat. James Anderson had him on
toast.

It is this experience, more than any other, that Kohli, now captain, is desperate to avenge. It is a
huge blot on his otherwise excellent CV.

A series victory in England - confirming India as the number Test team - and a substantial
number of runs from his bat on English pitches is Kohli's final frontier. He will leapfrog Steve
Smith to become the world's best batsman if he achieves it.

From 'chubby' batsman to gluten-free gym bunny

Kohli was always a richly talented batsman who made hundreds in his early teens and in 2008
led India to victory in the Under-19 World Cup.

But for a long time he was labelled as mainly a one-day player. His Test average in his first 20
innings hovered around the mid-30s.

A pivotal moment was after a disappointing 2012 Indian Premier League season when he
realised he was not fit enough.

"My training was horrible," he said. "I ate so bad, I was up until late, I was having a drink or two
regularly. I came out of the shower one day and looked at myself in the mirror and said 'you can't
look like this if you want to be a professional cricketer'.

"I was 11 or 12kg heavier than I am now; I was really chubby. I changed everything from the
next morning from what I eat to how I train. I was in the gym for an hour and a half every day,
working really hard, off gluten, off wheat, no cold drinks, no desserts, nothing. It was tough."
Kohli has scored 5,554 runs in Tests and 9,779 in ODIs

The results were significant in one-day cricket, where he reeled off a succession of match-
winning innings, dominating the bowlers with imperious drives and pulls.

But his technique against the red ball was unpicked by the England seamers when he toured
England for the first time in 2014.

He had a tendency to plant his front foot down the pitch and play at balls away from his body.
Against the non-swinging white ball on flat one-day pitches, this is the way to power the ball to
the boundary with a full follow-through.

But Anderson's radar-controlled movement with the red Duke ball exposed Kohli's imprecise
footwork and bristling impetuosity. Seven times he was dismissed edging the ball to
wicketkeeper or slips (four off Anderson) and he had a highest score of 39 in 10 innings. India
lost the series 3-1.

Kohli managed only 134 runs in the 2014 Test series in England

Captain marvel

Inheriting the Test captaincy from Dhoni at the end of 2014, Kohli was a man on a mission.

India were the seventh-ranked Test team - just above Bangladesh - and he was the 15th best
batsman. He upped his training regime again. This time he focused more on weight training with
snatches and deadlifts. He built up his legs with colossal numbers of squats and implored his
colleagues to do the same.

His phenomenal fitness levels have thrust him to exceptional levels of productivity. In the past
two years he has averaged 91 in one-day internationals with 10 hundreds, many in successful
pursuits of seemingly unattainable targets.

He is the fastest completer of twos - sprinting the 44 yards in under six seconds - in the game.

The strength in his legs also allows him to get unusually low to the ground when driving - almost
sniffing the ball - which gives him more control in the shot.

In his first Test as captain, against Australia in Adelaide, Kohli scored a hundred in each innings.

Since officially taking charge, he has averaged 65 with the bat - he has made 14 hundreds - and
India have lost only one series as they ascended to their number one ranking.
His success and fitness have given him unmistakable poise. He exudes self-confidence as he
strides out to the middle, with just a hint of the swagger that the great West Indian Viv Richards
possessed. It is quite un-Asian.

India legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar did not quite have this overpowering
presence at the wicket. It is partly for this reason that former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar,
now a leading commentator, believes Kohli can be India's greatest batsman of all time.

"His self-belief is the thing that makes him really stand out," says Manjrekar, who played 37
Tests between 1987 and 1996. "You won't see nerves or hesitation when he walks out to bat
against Anderson.

"If a ball dismisses him, he looks down the wicket in total amazement as if it was all a mirage.
That's just not supposed to happen, his expression seems to say."

Of Kohli's past 10 Test hundreds, six have been converted into double centuries, two
have passed 150 and two were unbeaten

Because Kohli plants his front foot fractionally early, England's plan may well be to bowl a
succession of deliveries just outside off stump, moving away trying to get the edge or draw him
across his crease, then angle one in at middle stump hoping for an lbw as he plays round his front
leg.

But he is wiser now than when he was last here and recently averaged 47 against the much-
vaunted South Africa seam attack.

Will Kohli succeed in this series?

It depends how well Anderson and Stuart Broad bowl (it will be important for one of them to be
on when Kohli comes in) and if there is any sideways movement off the pitch. Swing alone may
not be enough.

It is vital to get Kohli to the crease inside the first 20 overs when the ball is still hard and shiny
and the seam proud.

So the key for England's bowlers is to dispatch the India openers early. If they can then get at
Kohli and keep his series average in the mid-30s they will probably win the series.

But if the India top three do their job and Kohli averages 50, it may be India who make off with
the spoils. And he will be officially crowned as India's new king.