Saturday, January 19, 2013

Remember the Name

Being a cricket fan, I have often been asked this very normal and obvious question: "Who is your favourite cricketer?", and every single time, without a hesitation I have given the answer "Virat Kohli". Even though I know that most people don't actually say anything, but I know the judgemental looks and thoughts "Oh she likes him just because he is a handsome 24 year old and she is almost 20 herself". These people don't know that back in the 2000s, Mohammad Kaif used to be my favourite player, and no sir, he was not a handsome youngster. So to think that I admire Virat only because he is a handsome 24 year old man and I am barely younger than him is a gross misconception. Yes, I know that A LOT of his female fans like him because of his looks (which is why I hate the stupid "sooo cute" comments on any picture I post of him). Seriously, people?!

Anyway, I've always been into cricket, but it's only recently that I have started appreciating and noticing the finer details of the game- the technical aspects. And I think I have only one person to thank for this- my best friend Aishwarya Kumar. She sits with me in every match and patiently explains what a midwicket six is, what the different stumps are, what is a flat pitch, etc and I'm proud to say that later in the evening when my sister showed me a video of a particular SIXER of Yuvraj, I immediately said "That's a midwicket six."

I am getting off point here.

While watching Virat's innings on television today, I'd be underplaying it when I say I got goosebumps. There was so much passion, so much confidence and so much ambition in every flick of his bat, in every stride of his foot, and every celebratory smile of his. Instead of the usual collection of cuss words he releases into the air, today I saw a genuinely happy man, a man laughing and smiling as he played well, not an arrogant one, but a sheepish, confident one. The Indian bowlers had restricted the English team to a simple 155, and it would have been an easy win for us, and Virat could have easily relaxed and played a slow game, but he wouldn't have it so. He made sure to play the right shots, even though he had a considerably rusty start. Once the first few shots headed to the boundary lines, there was no turning back for him. He had shed the bad form like a snake sheds it's old skin. He was once again his usual lethal and formidable self. 77 not out, with quite a few overs to spare. When he got his fifty his brother from another mother Yuvraj gave him a friendly hug. Even though I always justified Virat's swearing at himself as just a way of expressing himself in his own way, I actually welcomed the fresh change of his celebratory actions today. There was some kind of calming force in him today. Yet, with each shot he played, he was oozing passion.

No, Virat Kohli isn't my favourite cricketer just because he is very very handsome. (And no, I am not saying that I don't find him really attractive).

Virat Kohli is my favourite cricketer because when I see him play for the country, or for his IPL team, I see cricket personified. I see a person doing something he was born to do. A person who was fulfilling his destiny. It's not just a dream, it's a destiny. Whether it is in the way he hits the ball for a sweet four or a scintillating six, or the way he runs from the other end of the field and dives down to take a match saving catch, or the way he throws the ball in the right angle so that it hits the stumps with a cracking sound, I see man who knows what he wants to do, knows exactly what he must do to get there, and does it in a mind ravelling, heart thumping, exhilirating way.

And not to mention, despite his poor advertisement choices, and the negative way the media portrays him, his interviews say otherwise, and something inside of me tells me that this man is a genuinely good person who is just seriously misunderstood.

So that. That is the reason I admire Virat Kohli to the extents that I do.

As for everything this man has achieved in his young age, the lyrics of one of my favourite song fits the bill in describing him:

"Ten Percent Luck,
Twenty Percent Skill,
Fifteen Percent Concentrated Power of Will,
Five Percent Pleasure,
Fifty Percent Pain,
And a Hundred Percent Reason to Remember the Name."