What a pleasure it was to hear Virat Kohli talk last night. It’s a privilege fans rarely get these days given his limited appearances on the cricket field. The captaincy days, when hearing him speak at least twice during a match was a given, are long gone. These days, it feels more like a luxury than a regularity. A breath of fresh air, truly. As he opened his heart about being in love with batting, love with the game, he also casually reminded everyone that he does not have long left before his career winds up. Kohli will, in all probability, retire from all formats for India after next year’s World Cup and, at best, continue for a couple more years with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The clock is ticking fast. Savour every bit of him. It may be a long while before another athlete comes even close to matching his aura. Forget the fans, even cricketers who have played alongside him are aware of it. Perhaps that is why Dwayne Bravo, the Kolkata Knight Riders bowling coach, wasted little time in meeting Kohli after the match to convey what much of the sporting world feels. Bravo and Kohli shared a moment after the game, laughing over something only they would know.
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But as RCB’s X handle shared a dressing-room video in which Tim David and head coach Andy Flower gave Kohli his flowers, Bravo stole the show with his gesture for the King. As Kohli signed a jersey for Bravo, the West Indies great said what millions of fans want to tell him.
“Play as long as possible, ok? This sport needs you.”
Padikkal on Kohli
Devdutt Padikkal, who made his RCB debut under Virat Kohli in 2020 and stitched together a 92-run stand with him in a tricky chase of 193, had nothing but praise for the senior batter.
“It was incredible to watch. I think I had the best seat in the house. Some of the shots he played were simply remarkable. Obviously, coming into this game after two ducks is never easy, and he showed why he is who he is. To not have that on his mind and to just go out there and bat the way he does was something incredible. Really happy to see him get those runs,” Padikkal said of Kohli’s knock.
“I don’t think we really went into the specifics of anchoring. It was more about making sure we took the game to a certain stage where we felt the rest of our batting line-up would be in a comfortable position. Over the last couple of games, we’ve been in situations where we lost a couple of wickets early, and never stitched partnerships together. I think it was important today that once I went in, both of us spoke about elongating that partnership for as long as possible and then taking it from there.”