For most of the century-old history of Indian cricket, the men in white and, more recently, in blue have invariably turned out clean-shaven on the field, sporting a well-trimmed hairdo. In a country where beards and bushy moustaches have been intrinsic to tradition, custom, and social hierarchy, even the aristocratic early cricket pioneers like Ranjitsinhji, Duleepsinhji, and Nawab of Pataudi Sr preferred the clean look, save for occasional, well-shaped lip fuzz. 

The clean look remained essentially unchanged even in the heydays of the long hair of the 1970s and 80s, when Imran Khan’s flying mane was sending subcontinental women into a swooning tizzy. Except for a few aberrations, Indian cricketers remained mostly content in their well-coiffed look, personified at one time by wicketkeeper-batsman Farokh Engineer’s famous sideburn-heavy Brylcreem ads. This trend continued through the eras of Sunil Gavaskar and Mohammed Azharuddin to Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid. Even Dhoni had his unruly tresses trimmed by Mumbai stylist Sapna Bhavnani once he established himself in the Indian cricket team.

And then came along Virat Kohli, the lad from West Delhi’s Uttam Nagar. From the earliest days, while his bat was signalling the arrival of a worthy successor to the ageing Tendulkar, his physique and appearance provided a different kind of inspiration to his teammates and a new generation of young cricket fans. 

There was, to start with, his wiry, toned body, perfectly gym-chiselled for cricketing athleticism and sharply cut suits. Then there were the numerous arm tattoos suited for making a statement in an era where half-sleeve tees and shirts were becoming de rigueur on the cricket field. 

Even more influential has been his carefully styled hair and beard. Thanks to celebrity coiffeurs like Rashid Salmani, Aalim Hakim and even the Australian Jordan Tabakman, Kohli’s pate has journeyed through every trend in contemporary male hair expressions — from spikes, side-fade and undercut to mohawk, spiky fringe and the spiky pompadour. 

Each of these styles has inspired a million imitations around the country. Not since the days of Dev Anand’s pompadour of the 1950s, the half-part, front-sloping Rajesh Khanna cut of the late 1960s, and Amitabh Bachchan’s side-part, long at the back, ear-wrapping sideburns-style style of the 1970s has a male Indian celebrity’s hairstyle made so much of an impact. 

Equally, or even more impactful, has been his exploration of sculpting his facial hair and whiskers. Helped along by an almost perfectly square jaw, his beard has trekked through a variety of styles over the last decade. Starting with the baby stubble and the trimmed stubble, it has moved to the sculpted scruff, the side fade, the ducktail, the squared box, and many others. It has inspired a generation of cricketers to take to the field with their versions of the beard. Barring a handful of lonesomes like Shubman Gill, it would be hard-pressed to find a top-level male Indian cricketer without a beard these days. And without an arm tattoo or a hairstyle sans a side fade. Virat Kohli is arguably the one man responsible for all of this.