Amidst heavyweights like Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dhoni, Gambhir and Yuvraj, there was Virat Kohli who was slotted in the team at No. 4 in the 2011 World Cup.

He went rather unnoticed for his 282 runs at an average of 35.

He came into bat under pressure thrice and successfully stabilized his side all the three times:

• vs Ireland
• vs West Indies
• vs Sri Lanka

vs Ireland: 4 days earlier, at the very same venue, Ireland had beaten England. After scoring 207, they had India at 21 for 2 when Virat walked in. With Sachin at the other end, he stabilized the innings with a 34 off 53 balls, thus allowing a comfortable finish.

vs West Indies: Sehwag wasn't playing. India, batting first, were 8 for 1 with Tendulkar dismissed. It soon became 51 for 2, when Yuvraj came out. Together, Virat & Yuvi added 122 runs before Kohli fell for 59; the second highest score off the innings.

India won comfortably.

vs Sri Lanka: the World Cup final! Chasing 275, India were 31 for 2 when Sachin walked back. Yet again, Virat stabilized the innings as he batted for over an hour with Gambhir. He helped take the score to 114, setting the foundation for a special knock by MS Dhoni.

No eye-catching performance but Kohli rescued Team India throughout the tournament, twice whilst chasing.

At 22 years of age, the youngest member of a triumphant team was actually doing a veteran's job.