Virat Kohli retires: Steven Finn on India cricket legend's legacy on and off field

The thought of watching an India Test team without Virat Kohli in it will take some getting used to.

I first played a full international against Kohli in an ODI at Lord's in 2011, then in Test cricket in India the following year, when England famously won the series 2-1.

But my first encounter with him came some time before, in an Under-19 series in the UK in 2006. We played three four-day 'Test' matches, with some recognisable names on both teams: Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Adam Lyth and Ishant Sharma. Kohli and I were both 17, so playing a couple of years above our age group.

Even then, as a youngster a far cry from the supreme athlete he turned into, the competitiveness and fire that has characterised Kohli's career shone brightly.

In the first game at Canterbury he made 123 in the first innings. It was full of trademark Kohli shots: clips through mid-wicket and punches through the covers with a checked drive.

What I remember most vividly is how keen he was to engage in a battle with us. In age-group cricket, some players are there to score their runs so they progress through the system. Not Kohli. He was there to win. It was this trait that elevated him above his peers and served him so well throughout a Test career that has carried the hopes of 1.4bn people.

From then on, we crossed paths regularly. At the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, we even crossed paths on a nightclub dancefloor. These days he would have too much of an image to uphold, and too much security required, to be seen in the same dodgy establishments as yours truly.

Kohli captained the India team that won that tournament. His expression on lifting the trophy, screaming in delight, was one that became familiar when he celebrated an India wicket in a Test.

Even at that age he was the prized wicket in the India team, the one you'd phone home to tell your parents about. It was no surprise he made his full one-day international debut later that year, immediately looking at home.

Kohli began his Test career as the golden boy, the next superstar and the face of India's new generation. He turned himself into a ruthless run machine and the most feared player in the world.

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