Dear Indian cricket and Virat Kohli fans,
We understand that you are all crazy supporters of the sport and every hit and miss personally affects you because, at the end of the day, cricket has established itself as an informal religion in India.
Believe me, I share your sentiments too and echo them vociferously as this game has been an instrumental part of my life. However, if there is one part that is not really familiar with me is that how on earth do we read from the outside that an individual has commitment issues just because he is not smiling in a snap?
Is there an ineffable emotion that we have failed to tap that can be derived by deriding someone who has been consistently batting his heart out for a nation that has struggled vehemently in the middle?
Before we delve into the secondary aspect, let the first question be what exactly is a commitment to you? It is supposed to be a subjective term and it will keep on changing according to the situation.
Then how can you come up with a specified set of preconceived notions that you hold and bundle it under the header of “commitment”? Or is it simply a ruse that you are using to slam Virat Kohli because he doesn’t fit your definition of the ideal icon that you wanted him to be?
Despite a duck in the second ODI against the Proteas, Virat Kohli still outshined the other batters of India comfortably with his stardust. There were times when, I desperately prayed that he gets that 71st which would have zipped you up, once and for all.
In fact, the condition is so bad that fans have even gone to that extent where according to them scoring 60s, 70s and 80s is a cakewalk. It is simply disheartening to witness the level that they can stoop to in order to tarnish the man who has been toting the Indian batting in the absence of Rohit Sharma, almost single-handedly.
Dear fans, Virat Kohli has carried the nation alone at a point in time. He has led the country to glories that looked like a pipe dream before he took up the leadership. It is your love that Kohli thrives on and not the hatred that you have for him.
Virat Kohli may be aggressive, maybe outspoken, may be too vocal on the field, but at the end of the day, he has never disrespected the crest that he dons on his chest.
His blood still boils when his teammates get sledged on the field, he still decides to hit back at his opposition captain and when it comes to responding with the bat, he is still one of the best that you will have at your disposal. Also, scoring 60s, 70s and 80s isn’t a cakewalk that you think it to me. It needs heart, guts and most importantly brilliance. Otherwise, the Don and Sachin Tendulkar would have been somewhere in the average bracket of 150 plus.
I implore you all, please do not pile up your personal hatred for Virat Kohli during a phase where he has been doing every possible thing to turn the tide around. Stand by him and he won’t let you down.
A crazy cricket fan.
