Virat Kohli- Making of the Little Master 3.0

We all play in our life. There are those rare ones who plays seriously. Rarest are those who get to represent the country. And, rare of these rarest breed scale the summit in their chosen sports. These extraordinary mortals send across the message to all, irrespective of those who play the sports or not: look, this too is possible. If the fastest runners of the world race against the time each time when they hit the track, the weightlifter challenges his body against the weight many times more than their own. For the tennis player it is the number of grand slams in their names, and for the boxers, it’s also about their aura and aggression, then the titles in their names. Cricket, being no different from these sports

 

Virat Kohli in action 

 

In cricket, a west Delhi boy from the middle-class background has set his feet on an essential peak in his career. He has completed ten thousand runs in international cricket in record time. The way he is batting and the manner in which he is managing his fitness level, it is likely that he may cross the Mount Everest of 20,000 runs in the one-day internationals. Yes, 20 thousand runs is indeed a possibility for him. People, including yours, honestly may laugh at this right now. We are ordinary people. But Virat Kohli has this belief. For he is extraordinary. And, while doing so, he may erase all the major batting records in the one-day internationals. Many of these records are currently held by the batting superstar of the millennium- Sachin Tendulkar. And, not very long back, let alone talking, even thinking of Sachin Tendulkar”s batting records being broken was taken as disrespect.

We all were in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. All of us were basking in the glory of India winning the cricket world cup for the second time after 1983. The young Delhi boy, raising his childhood hero Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulder, was taking the rounds of the stadium. He then famously said, “If this man can carry the burden of the entire Cricket obsessed nation on his shoulders for so many years, why can’t I carry him for some steps today.” Virat Kohli, the skipper of Indian cricket team, is indeed doing the same today, which his childhood hero Sachin used to do, in the years leading up to 2011. But unlike his predecessor Sachin Tendulkar or Sunil Gavaskar, who came before him, his arrival in the cricketing world was not that of a destined child prodigy or the teenage sensation. The making of Virat Kohli is that of incredible self-belief, the constant endeavour of pushing oneself beyond the limits and bouncing back after every faltering step.

 

The Master Chaser- The Run Machine 

 

There is something about west Delhi, which we all dread. The hugely crowded narrow lanes and bylanes and the claustrophobic houses, every one of them staring at the other. But, west Delhi, has produced, in recent years, some of the finest cricketers for the country. Perhaps, jostling for space amidst the crowd and finding the way out becomes an inherent part of their nature. In future, it helps them to shape up their careers. Virat Kohli has come out of this stable. The boy in him got transformed into a man the day he lost his father. The fact that he resumed the innings for his team before joining the family in mourning has now become the part of the folklore. Virat was not destined to lead the country in the U-19 world cup, had his predecessor Tanmay Srivastava, found his feet in the competitive age group cricket with finesse. He got the chance, and he made it count with his aggression and a sense of purpose. Virat Kohli, lost his way a bit when he got exposed to the glitz and glamour of cricket world. Unlike, the younger cricketers of Mumbai, which has reached the culture of seniors handholding them, there is nothing such in Delhi cricket. Kohli came back to the track on his own.

 

There is an exciting piece of history as to how young Virat Kohli, barged into the team India. Indian team was to be selected for the tour of Sri Lanka. The chief selector, Dilip Vengsarkar, persisted with his name, as he felt that the young player was ready for the international cricket, despite pressure from the higher-ups in the Indian cricket board. They wanted Badrinath to get more chances. Vengsarkar lost his job after this, but India got the player to shape its cricketing course for the years to come. For some time he remained in the periphery, but he put to an end all such debates after the World Cup 2011. From there, he has been consolidating and fortifying his space in the pantheon of international cricket, every innings, every day and every match. However, like any other human being, walking on this beautiful planet, there are frailties and flaws in his character and persona as well. The more and sooner it is worked out, the higher he will go amongst the all-time greatest of world cricket.

 

These are the testing times for the Indian cricket. But can’t be and will never be like Pakistan. The country has much much deeper rooted democratic tradition and resilience regarding institutions in every walks of life when compared to Pakistan. Imran model cannot work for Kohli and Indian cricket. If Kohli wants to match his leadership skills like his predecessors, like MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly, he will have to iron out the deficiencies in his leadership skills, as he has continuously done with his batting. In the long run, if Kohli wants to scale the now seemingly impossible mount Everest of 20 thousand runs in one-day international cricket, he will have to make the team India less Kohli centric. He needs to develop a group of batting leaders around the team. In this, he could take a cue from the career of Sachin Tendulkar. The little master successfully managed his marathon batting careers, as he had the likes of Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman and Sourav around. Kohli, too can do this and prove all of us wrong.