India’s population is 1.4 billion. Imagine being the top 11 out of a population of 1.4 billion. That is what it means to be a cricketer in India. It is a statistical Mount Everest. Specially Indian cricketing star Virat Kohli.
It is difficult to make the national team. After all, only 11 players can take the field. But let’s suppose you made it to the national team, you scored a mountain of runs, and you secured your place, suddenly you lost your form. Is your place now secure?
Check out some of Kohli’s numbers, averaging 60 and 42 centuries, and over 11,000 runs. But his form has dropped since the pandemic, not even a century since 2019.
For a moment the whole world cheers for you. The next day, you are out of the team. For Kohli, this always comes. He has been the undisputed star of Indian cricket for the past decade. He was powerful enough to completely oust Anil as coach.
But from 2020 you could see the tables turning rapidly. He later gave up the captaincy, and now experts are calling for his removal. Which way is team management goes?
Skipper Rohit has supported him. So is the national selectors, which means he is safe for now, but he can calmly opt out.
Many cricketers before him have done it at this point. It is unlikely to be remembered that Kohli is only 33 years old. 33 is the new 27 for modern day athletes. So he has a few more years of cricket left in him. But the question is, how does he justify his place in the side? Some experts want him to return to the domestic side, play the Ranji Trophy, regain some form and return to the national side.
Kohli has failed to deliver his part of the Indian team playing in England. And remember, this is not just a player, but a batsman who scored centuries for fun. So clearly something isn’t clicking.
Can India wait for Kohli to sort this out? For every match he plays, someone else loses a chance to play for India. So naturally the call to drop him will be louder, which is the biggest departure from the story.
Your position depends on your performance not only in cricket but in everything you do. If you keep performing, people will support you. Otherwise, they will always find substitutes, which is the harsh reality of this competitive world.
