Dear Virat,
It has been a long time since I last penned an open missive to you. Not always do we have the heart anymore, you see. Things happened in between and you were completely written off. In fact, experts had to believe that you should step down from the pedestal once and for all.
When the slump started in 2019, I still remember that your initial reaction was like all of us. You believed that it was absolutely normal where you were getting the numbers rolling your way and yet somehow they hardly created an impact on the fabric of the contest.
2020 came and the lives of mankind changed completely. Cricket was also not untouched. Being forced to be played behind closed doors, we started witnessing your fall more frequently than those explosive bursts of brilliance.
The Indian media somehow waited with a dagger in their hands where ever time you nicked to the field er in the slip or the wicket-keeper, they dabbed in six feet under and twist it inside that would leave you writhing in pain.
As days passed by, your decline was a lot more evident and any left-arm pacer proved to be a new knife would in your already sliced warring physique. Sadly, even the most firebrand supporters started losing hope that probably your peak has already arrived and there is nothing more that we could have hoped for.
You defied everything, every single odd and eventually stepped feet in the 2022 Asia Cup after a month’s break. The first signs started showing and it was Pakistan itself against whom you stitched a crucial cameo. But the best part of the cameo was that it had signs and shots of a signature Virat Kohli that once terrorized the English and blew a kiss at Mitchell Johnson impetuously.
Come Afghanistan, you finally broke the jinx and yet people thought it was just one innings of breaking the ordinary. It took almost another month and it needed a very special occasion to let people know that you are back and what could have been a better occasion than to tame Pakistan in a high-flying thriller, almost single-handedly steering the Men in Blue across the finish line.
That cracker against Haris Rauf to send the cherry flying straight over his head was a downright statement of authority. That 17-runs over off the intimidating Shaheen Afridi was another highlight of the king that you are. That glance off Rauf down the leg-side was another reminder of your legacy.
Virat you were exceptional and no matter who says what, today was all about you. It was about your domination, your dedication, your love for the game and the humility that you have embraced with arms wide open. When your eyes glistened with a couple of swelling tear drops, that said it all.
They say that you are arrogant but unless those exploits in the cricket field cannot be accepted with tears of joy, knowing how life will throw you under a burning wheel if it wants and yet willing to brave all of it is what defines Virat Kohli. This is the beginning of a new era and no matter what the world says, I am all set to scream “Virat viraaaaaaaaatttttttt again…”
Yours sincerely,
A crazy cricket fan
