"If I see someone laughing, then see! For 60 overs, they should feel hell out there," Virat Kohli's rousing speech to the Indian team at Lord's in 2021 not just inspired one of India's greatest ever victories but it symbolised the career of one of Test cricket's greatest icons.

While no one knew it at the time, that performance came in the final months of his captaincy and was certainly the day Kohli's India peaked as their pacers ran havoc over the England batting to win the team a match from a position of no hope. The fact that it came one day after India celebrated Independence Day was symbolic of the culture Kohli had created, but also the 'New India' he represented.

If anyone wonders why Kohli's Test retirement has come as a blow to every cricket lover's heart, the day at Lord's is the greatest answer. His exit from the format not just marks the end of a glorious career but takes away the man from red-ball cricket, who changed how India played Test cricket and for the world was its greatest ambassador. As a batter, Virat Kohli scored 9230 runs in Test cricket at an average of 46.85, and despite the dramatic dip, it is a career of dreams. With 30 centuries and seven double tons, the list of records is endless. From December 2014 till the end of 2019, his peak in red-ball cricket is unmatched and one that will be spoken about as the greatest period of dominance by a batter in history. No opponent, ground, or bowler was a match to him as he performed against every bowler in some of the spiciest pitches across the globe. The beauty of Kohli's batting in Test cricket was that it came on his terms. While he might have the technical perfection of Sachin Tendulkar, when Kohli walked out to bat in Test cricket, especially on his best day, there was a flair in his batting, which made it a sight to behold.While the list of records Kohli set over 14 years and he has played some of the all-time great knocks the world has seen but his legacy goes beyond the scores and numbers, the roots of which were set in 2014 at the Adelaide Cricket Ground.After an injury to MS Dhoni, Kohli was asked to lead the team for the first time in red-ball cricket in what marked the first Test match the star Indian cricketer played after his disastrous England tour. On the first ball in the match he faced, Mitchell Johnson's bouncer smashed him on his face. On his captaincy debut with the world doubting him in red-ball cricket, Kohli faced a test with fire but responded in style with a fine century. On the final day of the same match, the Indian cricket legend played a knock that changed Indian cricket forever. As India entered the fifth day needing 363 runs to win, no one in their wildest dreams thought India could win that match and as has been the case for ages with the Indian team, most expected that they would play for a draw.But that was not Virat Kohli. He set the mark in his first match as captain and told the team to go for win the match. The captain walked the talk with a stunning knock of 141. Ultiamtely, India fell short by 48 runs and lost the match, but it was a case of India losing the battle to win the war.Only two Test matches later, Kohli took charge of the Indian team on a permanent basis in Test cricket but he had set the platform for the culture of the team to change within his interim tenure of one match as captain.In the days that followed, Kohli would stress on building a team that can take 20 wickets. He will go against what India has done for decades and pick a line-up with five bowlers at the cost of dropping a batter.More do, he emphasises building a pace attack that can hunt in packs. While over the years India had individual greats like Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan, and Javagal Srinath, it was never one of sustained brilliance before Kohli.With the support of the captain, Kohli built an attack that the world envied. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, and Umesh Yadav elevated their game, Kohli's biggest contribution came by giving Jasprit Bumrah a Test debut against popular opinion. Later, Mohammed Siraj would enter the scene and this group of players have ensured that a culture for many more to enter the scene has been set. For years, Indian fans had watched pace attacks of teams like West Indies, Australia, South Africa, England rattle oppositions. Kohli built an Indian attack of dreams, which did that too. While many will rightly argue that Kohli was fortunate, his tenure coincided with some of the finest pacers India has ever produced, hitting their peak, and each bowler deserved massive credit for their excellence, but the captain's support and backing were something India had lacked for years. Essentially, when Kohli took charge of the Indian team in Test cricket, India were coming off a nightmare three-year period in the format, where they suffered a rare home series defeat, won one test match away from Asia, suffered humiliating defeats in Australia and England, and were on seventh place in the ICC Test ranking.In no time, Kohli not just changed the way the team played and got results. In his seven-year tenure as captain, India lost just two Tests at home while winning all 11 series, but also dominated away and stayed world number one team in the world for almost four years on a trot. While the historic Test series win in Australia was the crowning glory, India won 7 Test matches in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries. Before him, no Indian captain had won more than three. However, the joy of the Kohli-led test team goes beyond that. The way it played made every Indian cricket fan and those from around the world watch. While Ben Stokes got praise for the ultra-attacking 'Bazball' but it was Kohli's India that played true attacking cricket, which was result-oriented. Every time they stepped up on the field, the focus was on getting a result, dismissing opposition twice, and one that made every day and every session interesting, no matter what the match situation. While While Kohli was doing everything in his power to revolutionise Indian cricket, he became the format's greatest ambassador. At a time when T20 cricket was shooting across the world and IPL was growing from strength to strength, test cricket faced an existential threat. Kohli started his career as a white-ball great, and nobody would have complained if he had gone that day. But instead, the game's biggest superstar ensured the sport's financial hub made Test cricket the priority. He ensured young fans took interest in the longest format, and the old timers were able to enjoy the aspect they love the most. Kohli's legacy in Test cricket will perhaps be best defined by a passionate speech by Shane Warne, months before his death, where he publicly thanked Kohli for what he did for Test cricket.

While the world watched when he batted, Kohli also ensured that fans watched when India fielded, as his presence ensured every passage of play had theatre. While his antics sometimes sparked controversy, they ensured no Test match was ever boring. Kohli kept the crowd charged, and his intensity on every action ensured, the match never lost its spark. The animated celebrations, sledging, and passionate antics was a sight to behold. Those who were witnesses to it through his career can consider themselves lucky and will have some fond stories to tell in the time to comeUltimately, his numbers in Test cricket do not justice to what he gave the format and the dip over the last five years is a bitter pill to swallow. However, if there was a case of legacy being greater than what the record books tell, it is Virat Kohli. It will be the job of this generation to protect his legacy a few years later, but maybe when an Indian ARMY DGMO pauses a press conference mid-way during a grave time for the nation, you know it will be protected. It is perhaps the great tragedy of Indian cricket that a player like Kohli, who gave so much to the format, is leaving Test cricket with an Instagram post rather than a farewell in front of a packed crowd with a guard of honour and being lifted around by his teammates. The world has seen better batters and might see more in the future. India will probably get a captain who wins them more matches or scores more runs at number four. But what will almost be impossible to find for India and the world will be someone in the era of T20 cricket, who stood for Test cricket like it was his most valued property. Like a Federer in Tennis, Usain Bolt in F1, a Ronaldo or Messi in Football, there is a section of sports fans who watch the sport for a player. Kohli was that for Test cricket.After Virat Kohli wore the whites, Test cricket was never the same again. Now, after Virat Kohli leaves the whites, it will never be the same again.Saying Test match cricket will miss Virat Kohli will be the understatement of the decade.