(The column first appeared on the Indian Express on January 21, 2022)
- So used to being the larger than life totemic King Kohli, can Virat adjust to the life of a commoner? Will he be able to smother the urge to shout out instructions or rush to the umpires with an angry representation of the team’s angst? No longer the voice of the team, will Kohli silently fade into the background? There are those who say that the demons in the head will mess up his muscle memory, impact his form and maybe even shorten his glorious career. It’s a worrying eventuality, a potential body-blow to Indian cricket that could dent the game’s global popularity. In these unsettling times, revisiting a popular Kohli story, a bedtime fable for many budding cricketers, can give a fresh perspective and timely reassurance. It is a reminder to his doubters that Kohli is no lily-livered cricketer. What fate awaits the former captain in this game of glorious uncertainties can’t be predicted but the smart money will always be on the hardened survivor weathering one more storm…