India, May 18 -- Virat Kohli could have ended up like any middle-class Delhi boy. Instead, he has hung up his Test match boots as one of the premier middle order batters to have ever played the glorious game. True, his batting average is below average, if one compares him with India's all-time greatest: Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar. But to have scored as many as thirty centuries for India in whites, and to have led India to forty Test wins in 68 Tests when he was the skipper, denotes a legacy that is anything but average. Indeed, the Kohli legacy is beyond words. He has exemplified a certain energy permeated aura that few icons have ever done, in any era. To constantly remain so charged up all the time, whenever on the field, and to be able to maintain his sanity despite the unprecedented Instagram enabled attention that he constantly garnered, is no mean feat. What's more, barring a Covid-era dip in Test match form, from which he never quite recovered, Kohli remained one of the most fabulous sights to watch when on song at the crease. His exquisitely timed cover drives and his adroit leg side game were for long considered as the balm which warmed the cockles of the hearts of connoisseurs. His running between the wickets, that uncanny ability to think on his feet while batting, and a legendary sense of game awareness, especially while chasing a largish total, made him one of the giants of the modern game. But even more compelling than these obvious skills which Kohli possessed, and he will continue to exhibit them in the IPL, as well as, hopefully, the ODI format, has been the aura of Kohli. That magnificent aura which a not too shy, but a very raw, youngster from Delhi built up, bit by bit, is the pulse of the Kohli legacy. He became larger than life in the minds of India's millions, and perhaps only Sachin Tendulkar, along with MS Dhoni, could command the kind of dazzling vibe, among cricketers, that Kohli possesses even today. Test cricket, and cricket itself, one day not so far, will be poorer without Kohli for sure. He had declared long years ago, as skipper of India's Test team, that his team would love to bring back the crowds to Test cricket by playing attractive cricket. And he himself stood taller than everyone else as a magnetic presence on the field in the Test match arena. Meanwhile Team India did just that: to bamboozle most opposition and to dazzle on the field while he was the helm, and beyond too. There was also never any shortage of drama while Kohli was fielding. Whether as skipper or merely as a slipper, the camera would most often pan to his expressive, aggressive, demeanour and his explosive body language. His eyes emitted fiery rays, or so it seemed, whenever an opposition player would try to browbeat him or his teammates. And although equipped with a less than impressive voice, his sharp tongue would spew venom towards the 'attacker'. Recent episodes of him shoulder pushing young Aussie opener Sam Konstas and of mocking the Aussie crowds with some imaginary sandpaper related shenanigans did not go down too well, even with his Indian fans. But Kohli was never one to back off from an opportunity to prove that he, and what he represented, his beloved Team India, would never be short of boldness and at times, theatrical gunpowder. To any young cricketer, or to any fan, Kohli represented, and will continue to exemplify, top class skills coupled with in the face aggro. And in an era when there is a crying need for many more role models for the youth, Virat Kohli stands out as one super celebrity who is worthy of emulation by Gen Zee. No other sportsman of the current era has quite captured the innate imagination of the young Indian psyche like Kohli has. So, with the whites being tucked away now, and only blues to don for a while, Virat Kohli is all set to walk towards the cricketing sunset. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, even if he retires to relative anonymity, one feels that the Kohli impact is far from over....