Dear Virat Kohli,
Word is out on the street that the same man who terrorized the bowlers mercilessly in 2016 is back on a hunt again and this time the rage is more, the fury is even more ruthless and the technique better with a pint of humility that makes the King unstoppable.
Before India locked horns with Pakistan for a second time in the Asia Cup, people were contemplating that the boogeymen of Pakistan cricket, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf would consume the Indian top-order again and it is going to be a same fear of how would the Men in Blue survive the incessant lateral movement?
Well, I guess they had it all wrong. They probably forgot that except for the last match in Asia Cup where an inside edge got the better of Virat Kohli, the run-machine never stopped delivering the payload against Pakistan.
From the T20 World Cup to Asia Cup’s meetings, you always ruled supreme. But guess what Virat, this letter isn’t to praise the fact that you bossed around the Pakistani bowlers. This letter is my humble tribute to the crazy crazy stunts that you produce day in day out.
Batting in the 48th over, you were running doubles as if they were a walk in the park for you. Of course, KL responded very well. But that kind of fitness, Virat, only comes from a superhuman.
The shots that came thereafter, from the gravity-defying lofts down the ground to those exquisite pulls and hooks, you were simply a walking fire that was consuming Pakistan with every single ball. In fact, so scared were the Pakistanis, that their desperation led them to losing out on a review for you.
I mean, that is what we call as control. That is what we call as being an abled destroyer of all the talks that went around Pakistan. The kind of strokeplay on offer laced with your elegant presence all around the park, I mean that was love for me Virat.
No matter what I say, that should not suffice, but believe me it fills my heart with joy, with belief that you are truly truly back. I don’t care what the world says, but India will look back at 2011 once again where it all started. A certain Kohli helped Gambhir stabilize the ship and then carried the Master Blaster on his own shoulders.
The time has come that Indians reciprocated the same for you and today’s knock will probably fill us with hope that time is near when we get to see another iconic spectacle unfurl ahead of us in India under our very noses. Go well, Virat.
Yours sincerely,
A crazy cricket fan