Virat Kohli was supposed to be the replacement of Sachin Tendulkar, but for the last two years, he has been on a disastrous streak; comparable only to that of volatile Vinod Kambli. Now, one of the greats of modern times is facing a threat of fading into oblivion.
Kohli resigns from Test captaincy
The year 2022 did not start on a good note for Virat Kohli. Under his captaincy, the Indian Team lost a test series to Proteas. Just after the series, the wonder boy resigned from his captaincy. The ditching of responsibility has left many people bewildered. The man was poised to be one of the best servants of Indian cricket. Suddenly, what happened to him?
Timeline of India’s Cricketing Prince Charming
Kohli first burst onto the scene after captaining India to victory in the 2008 U-19 cricket world cup. Even when more talented players like Rohit Sharma were dominating domestic cricket, Kohli’s emergence as a leader drew significant media attention. The promotion of young players after the advent of T20 cricket reverberated it more.
In August 2008, Kohli made his international debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka. Typical of a young player, Kohli had a slight struggle in his initial days. However, he later improved and was selected for the Champions trophy in 2009.
His promising talent prompted Royal Challengers Bangalore to continue investing in his potential. He paid them back with some stupendous performances in the champions league, world cup of franchise cricket. Later, Kohli’s stable world cup performances, along with his technically sound T20 exploits, became a reason for selectors choosing him for his Test Debut in 2011.
Test debut and Captaincy
Kohli initially did not perform well in Tests. Within 7-months Kohli returned the favours with his century against a strong Australian bowling lineup in Adelaide. The next 7 years of Kohli were just an extension of his strong 2011-12. Kohli soon became the century man of Cricket. The amount of batting record he broke is uncountable.
Kohli was handed Test captaincy midway through India’s Australia tour in 2014-15. He emerged as an aggressive captain against a strong Australian side possessing greats like Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Michael Clarke. Later Kohli’s aggressive captaincy bore fruits in differing conditions as is evident from his records of 40 wins in 68 Test matches.
Kohli’s glamour inclinations
While Kohli was climbing the cricketing ladders, a parallel force inside his psyche was preparing for disaster. Kohli’s visible inclination towards stardom was becoming a cause of concern for many. However, Kohli’s rising status on the back of his cricketing performances silenced the concerns. Not for long though…
Increasing stature made Kohli a favourite of Glamour world. Slowly, he became one of the favourites of Page-3 newspapers. His flying kisses to girlfriend Anushka Sharma drew more and more advertisements towards him. He became a favourite of brands looking for a face to promote their products with a tagline.
Kohli was everywhere; cricket field, press conferences, and advertisements. It started to show up in his attitudes as well. In his head, Kohli became answerable to none. He would escape criticism by counter questioning critics. Similarly, many videos on the Internet can be found where Kohli is seen fighting with his fans.
Read more: Virat Kohli vs. Sunil Chhetri: One invites criticism and the other is closed to it.
Woke tilt and indiscipline in the team
Virat slowly started to lecture Indians on moral and ethical codes of conduct. Soon, he took up unnecessary activism. He started to peddle illogical and historically inaccurate advices on Hindu festivals. His one-sided wokeism reached its zenith when in 2021; he announced that he will teach 1.4 billion Indians the methods of celebrating Diwali.
Read more: The power of Hindu Money: FabIndia and Virat Kohli withdraw their anti-Hindu ads
Kohli’s liberal bent of mind made sure that there is little to no discipline in the Indian team. Under Kohli and Ravi Shastri, sexual misadventure became an achievement to be proud of in the dressing room. The team started to break into factions and Kohli’s individual as well as team’s performances nosedived. Virat’s frustration on broadcasters in his last test match as captain was the epitome of his frustrations.
Read more: Only controversies can keep Virat Kohli alive and kicking. At least Virat Kohli thinks so!
Kohli was and will always be one of the greatest batsmen to wear Indian jerseys. However, talent will often get you to a certain limit, after that, it’s all about how you carry it. One thing is for sure, Kohli could not shoulder the legacy of great Sachin Tendulkar with grace.