India, March 16 -- He came, he spoke, he charmed. Everyone. He chose his words carefully, took his time mulling over questions thoughtfully lobbed by Isa Guha, and hit every metaphorical ball out of the park with a panache that has been his calling card for at least the last decade and a half.

This was as close to Virat Kohli completely unplugged and totally chilled out as one could get. It was the final act of the two-day RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit; from the time Saturday's proceedings began, every pair of eyes kept darting quick looks at the watch to see when the hands would tick over to 4.00 pm.

Kohli arrived at the venue maybe a half hour before that, casually but nattily dressed, aware that he was the cynosure - he has...