There’s a popular saying by renowned European philosopher Seneca that states, “The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity!”
The above, seemingly and ardently, applies to none other than the man regarded as the ‘king’ of batting: Virat Kohli.
For all you know, he “might” be battling some.
For a cricketer whose life is about spunk, unbridled positivity and rarely has periods of prolonged silence as evidenced in the recent past, Virat Kohli has been keeping mum, of lately.
As it happens with incredibly popular figures, needless media speculation regarding his absence from the recent England tour only multiplied the notions many had uselessly extended.
But what’s been rather surprising is that there’s hardly been a word from the great man himself when another piece of news struck media and got his true fans worried.
Recent reports suggested that there were huge chances of Kohli not being picked for the T20 World Cup squad.
For someone who’s been lavished effusive praise and been constantly idolised, it could be heartbreaking to read that he won’t likely be picked and that too, for a World Cup.
Surely, cricketers may put up with the classic – “We don’t read everything written about us”- but, at times, things can get to you.
It can hurt.
Though, whether or not he’s going to the West Indies & America in the near future, what’s true is that Virat Kohli is back and here in the present.
And the present moment is all about the famed IPL.
(Source- RCB official Twitter/ X)
With the return of the world’s famed T20 league, cricket crazy fans have amid them King Kohli.
And must it be submitted, sans much of a doubt, that the King would like to be one with the bat.
For those who’ve spread rumours, first about his private life and later, about his supposed standing with respect to Team India’s plans for future, it’s ideal that Kohli answered critics on the 22 yards.
It’s one thing to face music but a different leveller of sorts to leave detractors stunned.
Kohli’s been a master of doing just that.
Amid a time where his RCB were being derided and endlessly so, circa 2016, he got out there and slammed bowlers to the smithereens.
Back when Gayle, AB, Russell, Uthappa, Rohit were all going strong, it was Kohli who stole the show scoring, lest it is forgotten, 973 runs from 16 games.
Read that again.
(Source- Star Sports)
973 runs in a single IPL season.
When confronted by adversity, the nimble footed shy away, but true kings confront the challenges head on.
Virat Kohli- record breaker, bowler destroyer, gap finder, breather of life into the game- belongs to this latter league.
Forget not that he didn’t feature in much of the talks prior to the administration selecting the T20 World Cup team for the 2022 event in Australia.
The stinging claims that he was ‘past his best’ did the rounds.
(Source- Twitter/X)
Then came the game against Pakistan and a hair raising run chase amplified magnificently by two consecutive sixes that would change the course of the game and would eventually find their place in cricketing folklore.
It was as if, in each of the two massive, game changing sixes, Virat Kohli was furthering his presence in the game and with it, expanding India’s scale of domination.
Make no mistake; he’d like to do just that if given a chance in the T20 World Cup 2024.
And his isn’t a case of “why pick him” rather, a case of why commit the sacrilege of not picking him.
In an age where just about anyone including one match wonders are dubbed ‘great’, Virat Kohli is a generational great.
Forget his 4,000 plus T20I runs for India, the right hander is closing on 7,500 IPL runs.
In his case, it truly merits dubbing him a run machine.
(Source- Twitter/X)
He’s pure delight. He’s authentic. Bold. Passionate. There’s so much human emotion and effort that’s gone into strengthening his craft that the rest around him seem like feeble AI age bots.
But the road to T20 World Cup will, in one way or the other, go through the 2024 IPL performance.
Maybe true for not just Indian cricketers but even the Australians and the BlackCaps and Proteas talents.
And for being a cricketer whose life is wired in the ‘now’, Kohli must live the IPL 2024 one game at a time.
Make his mark. Game after game. And do what he usually does best: handle any kind of adversity with greatness.