Kohli adorns cover of Wisden Almanac

London: It is now firmly established that Virat Kohli is fat catching up with Sachin Tendulkar on almost every aspect of the game.

If the retired maestro achieved the distinction of being the only Indian to adorn the cover the pre-eminent Wisden Cricketers' Almanac, the current captain s giving him company even in that elite category.

Tendulkar held the distinction in the 2014 edition of the Almanac, which is revered as the Bible for the Gentleman Game. The 2017 edition is to hit the stands in April.

The cover star status is a global acknowledgement of Kohli’s sensational exploits in the season just gone by. In blistering form, the contemporary world’s most prolific run-getter amassed an imposing 2,595 runs in all formats of the game on the international horizon.

What is unique about the pictorial depiction is that Kohli is playing a reverse-sweep, which seldom plays in any form of the game. According to Wisden’s editor Lawrence Booth, it was more representative of his being a batsmen of the modern times.

The manner he led from the front saw Kohli eclipse England in all three formats of the game-Tests, ODI and T20s for completing a royal coronation. The Wisden tribute is a timely salutation to the man who leads from the front.