Virat Kohli marches to his own drumbeat
Sportspersons like him break barriers and make you feel good that you are on this planet at the same time as them
Indian cricketer Virat Kohli’s score at Edgbaston last week said it all. 200. The other ten twice over 214. That was the gap in a Test lost by a clutch of runs. These figures underscore the difference between good players who have a bad day and outstanding geniuses, who are to the manner born. You cannot envy Virat Kohli. Like you cannot envy Usain Bolt, Mohammed Ali, Pele, Dhyan Chand, Jesse Owens, Roger Federer, Serena Williams. People like this break the barrier and make you feel good that you are on this planet at the same time as them, to see them grapple with the fates, harness their talent and showcase it for the world.
What makes the one in a hundred athletes and sportsmen be exceptional? Is it gravel in the guts, a deep seated acceptance that you are born for this and nothing can stop you, a tenacity forged in the conviction that you are the Shakespeare of cricket and you will write the plot of the plays, grasp the drama and fling adversity on its face. That you will carry the torch because you have no choice, this is your destiny.
Rain fell hard in Virat Kohli’s life. It is 2006 and Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium is not a steaming cauldron but a chilled shower. Karnataka has scored 446 and Delhi are 103 for 5 in reply facing a highly probably follow on. A young kid of just 18 called Virat Kohli is batting on 40 when stumps are called.
Next day as the time for play came the Delhi camp’s mood was somber. News had come that Prem Kohli, Virat’s father, had passed away in the night at the young age of 54. In the dugout, if memory serves one correctly, Chaitanya Nanda was ordered to pad up for what seemed like a lost cause. As he was getting ready a stunned team watched a red-eyed Virat arrive. Not a word was said out of reverence as he padded up and went out to bat even as Dad lay in state and the funeral was scheduled for this day.
What could anyone say as he played through the most of the session, reaching a score of 90 before getting out, coming back to the pavilion to a deep and respectful applause from his mates as he packed his kit bag and drove away to his father’s funeral.
Ironically, he played for 281 minutes and faced 238 balls and though given, he was not out the bat having touched the ball in the lbw (leg before wicket) decision as the replays showed.
He has been not out since then. Merely in.
Job done, now time to grieve. For him a benediction and a promise to his father, a last farewell gift because he must have known in his heart that his father would have endorsed it. Go play. Honour me, son.
From that grey heroic moment to the happy hoorah as he scored his ‘he cannot do it’ century in the first Test and kissed his wedding ring in a shot gone viral we can capsule this incredible sportsman’s journey, a work in progress with miles to go, many miles.
In these years a capsule of his achievements are mandated. These are facts and can be bluntly stated. Their copyright belongs to the world.
Kohli was soon playing for the senior India one-day international (ODI) side, making his debut against Sri Lanka in 2008. In December 2009 in his 14th ODI, Kohli scored his first international hundred. He also became the youngest Indian to score a World Cup hundred.
In April 2011 when India was going berserk with excitement, Kohli put the cherry on the cake as the team carried Sachin Tendulkar on their shoulders for being the Man. The succinct words of young Kohli were: ‘Tendulkar has carried the burden of nation for 21 years; it was time we carried him’.
In January 2012 perhaps the only bright spot on a bleak series for India in Australia was Kohli’s maiden hundred at Adelaide. He was India’s leading run-scorer in a series best forgotten.
In the same year India needed to chase 321 in 40 overs to stay in contention for a spot in the final, and Kohli slapped 133 not out off 86 balls to clinch the win in 36.4 overs.
His 183 Mirpur century against Pakistan in March 2012 helped him win the ODI player of the year award.
In November 2013 against Australia, Kohli scored the fastest and thirdfastest hundreds by an Indian batsman, and topped the ICC batting pyramid.
In January 2015, India’s Test captain Dhoni decided to call it a day and Kohli was ushered in. Since then his grace and dignity, and the courtesy he continues to show to senior players, especially former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is exemplary.
In April-May 2016, the man who had not scored a century in the first eight seasons scored four in the ninth to tally a record 973 runs.
It did not stop here. In the same year he would be scoring three doublehundreds, a record for an Indian batsman in a calendar year. Within the next 60 days there would be a fourth.
In January 2017, the BCCI simply caved in and made him the all format captain.
Not that they had much choice. This is a phenomenon. Pugnacious, impish, and with that wicked glint in his eye, you can see him as the naughtiest guy in the class, also the warmest, nicest, most generous.
You might well ask so if he is so inspirational how come his batsmen fell apart. That is the flaw when you march to your own drumbeat. The others cannot keep up. Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar had that problem. Tendulkar certainly did but his saving grace was he hated captaincy. At the peak of his game Mahendra Singh Dhoni had a similar dilemma.
Players like this tend to intimidate the rest. Virat will face this again and again. It is the tax you pay for being spawned in a different crucible.
You might well ask so if he is so inspirational how come his batsmen fell apart. That is the flaw when you march to your own drumbeat. The others cannot keep up. Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar had that problem.