When MS Dhoni walks into the crease, he exudes a sense of calm, that zen-like feeling, which also then pervades through to the non-striker at the other end. When Virat Kohli walks into the middle, he brings about a bit of electricity, a sense of positive intent that is impossible to ignore.
India vs Bangladesh Day 2 score update
That electricity, that intent, that positivity was all on display the moment Kohli walked in in the 51st over after Cheteshwar Pujara was dismissed by Mehedi Hasan.
His first ball was square cut for a boundary, the third was driven straight back for another and from there it was inevitable that the India captain would score a double century, and with it become the first player in history to score four double hundreds in four successive series.
Kohli, with his double tons against the West Indies, New Zealand, England and now Bangladesh, beat a record he jointly held with two of the batting greats of this game – Don Bradman and Rahul Dravid, who had done it in three straight series.
It was almost as if Kohli came into this match in Hyderabad wanting to teach Bangladesh a lesson in Test match cricket. Having rightly made noises about wanting to play Test cricket with the big boys more often, Bangladesh would have known they were in for a difficult outing against India in India.
Kohli, though, cranked up the difficulty level for the Bangladesh bowlers up a few notches, a level they had previously not even known existed.
It was the absolute ease with which he got to his double hundred that made you marvel at his brilliance. Runs flowed off the bat smoother than silk, the bowlers were made to look ordinary, even when they were hitting decent lines and lengths and that legend of Virat Kohli's just kept growing and growing.
You know a player is special when the crowd cheers the fall of an Indian wicket, purely because it meant Kohli was about to walk in to bat.
The great man did not disappoint, with the cut shots, the drives, the flicks, the whips, the pulls and the straight drives flowing off that MRF Genius bat of his to make the genius word seem like an understatement and leave the Bangladesh bowlers with nothing to do but sit back and admire like the rest of us mere mortals.
In the end, Kohli (204, 246b, 24x4), who earlier had an lbw decision overturned on review, was given out leg before wicket to Taijul Islam soon after he got to his double century. Ironically, had he gone for another review, he would have had an opportunity to go for a triple hundred, because the impact was outside off stump.
Kohli, though, thinking he was out, decided against it, allowing the mortal batsmen to take court again as he sat back and contemplated his plans for the Bangladesh batting innings.
Watch the highlights of Kohli's innings HERE
