Unbeknownst to himself, a young Virat Kohli wouldn’t have even surmised he was setting in motion a remarkable event (picture perfect as it would turn out to be) in 2011, one that would have long-standing bearings on Indian cricket. And eerily enough, now promises to do an encore to himself in 2023 as the then-cub-now-king Kohli looks to wind down the clock on what has been one of the greatest modern-day careers in the game.

As India erupted in joy with MS Dhoni’s men winning the 2011 World Cup on a sultry evening at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the young Kohli initiated an act that will perhaps remain etched in cricketing folklore. Hoisting Sachin Tendulkar atop his shoulders with his team-mates, Kohli paid the ultimate tribute to the phenom. Tendulkar had borne the weight of expectations of the country for years, Kohli encapsulated the next-gen feeling as he said that was the right thing to do for the maestro, what millions would have wanted to, to give Tendulkar the golden send-off.

The wheels of time, and fate, now present an uncannily similar situation for Kohli. Peerless modern-day great that he is, Kohli has played a part, and at times substantial ones, in almost all of India’s cricketing highs. Even as he continues to remain the consummate tour de force he made himself to be, Kohli now finds himself staring down Tendulkar’s epic sign-off. The chance to win a World Cup on home soil that could certainly be his last, the other worldly feeling of laying hands on cricket’s holy grail, Kohli knows this is, and could be, his time to seize the narrative one last time.

The cooler climes of February seemed aeons away when Kohli walked out to bat in a World Cup 12 years ago on a sultry afternoon in dusty Mirpur, Bangladesh. 150-odd up on the board, but having lost Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir, the Indian dressing room would have expected the young Kohli to take his time, and just aid senior partner Virender Sehwag. And though innumerable match reports would say the same, this writer was on hand, on the top deck at the ground, witnessing a young man coming of age. Sehwag would go on to score a Sehwagesque 175, while Kohli carved out a masterful 100 of just 83 deliveries, taking India to safety, and ultimately, a big win in their Cup opener.

A fifty-plus against the Caribbeans on a Chennai dust bowl further enhanced his growing stature, but Kohli knew his would add up to being only a supporting act, as India won the World Cup, largely due to a bevy of scintillating all-round performances. Yet, as they say, ‘we won the World Cup for Tendulkar’.

A couple more editions have come and gone and Kohli has shone brightly too, but the sparks weren’t just enough for India to go all the way – to become world cup champions again. This time around, in spite of home advantage, Kohli knows that it will take a special effort from the team to be crowned champions again.

A career that has quintessentially not been for, or by, mere mortals of the game; a journey that swam atop the crests and troughs of the game with unbridled passion, Kohli’s swirling blade can still, and probably will, produce truckloads of runs, but that by itself won’t be enough. India has one of the finest white-ball batters in skipper Rohit Sharma, and an accompaniment of exciting stroke players who could script the perfect symphony.

But for someone like Kohli, it’s the failure to make it matter when its most needed, is, and has been, the whetstone to his insatiable hunger for success. Like the greatest strikers who would have the world of football on their palms with their unbelievable feats, yet be up at night, thinking about a solitary miss, or two. And that’s been the epitome of this man who they now call King Kohli.

Once, in a televised interaction with this writer, Viv Richards, one of the incomparables of the game, explained what makes Kohli stand apart from the rest. It is his ability to make the situation his own, his ability to stare down even the sternest of opponents in their backyard, that had Richards let slip Kohli was a lot like him.

And he is. The swagger. The inscrutable dominance. It's all been there. Still is. But unlike Richards, who singlehandedly dominated a couple of World Cups that West Indies won, Kohli is yet to script his own Cup of dreams.

This time though, the odds are stacked in his favour. Billion prayers. A terrific unit moulded and guided by another modern day great in Rohit Sharma, with the unflappable Rahul Dravid sitting quietly and strategizing in the dressing room.

Much like the oft repeated ‘will India win it for Sachin’ in 2011, the present points to an added question. Will Virat Kohli win it for India?

Sanjeeb Mukherjea is a sports television personality. An award-winning anchor-journalist, Mukherjea now doubles up as host and commentator for major sports broadcasting networks in India.