I loathed Virat Kohli, now I love him - How I became a Kohli fan

I remember hurling abuses at Virat Kohli when he was standing outside the boundary ropes. Back then, in 2010, he was the 12th man for India as they were playing their first test of the series at Chittagong against Bangladesh.

Looking back at my actions, an overwhelming wave of regret washes over me. It was uncalled for, a classless move by a hot-blooded 17-year-old kid that I was back then.

However, I had my reasons.

For starters, the look that he gave to the fans in the stands oozed nothing but arrogance. It was as if he wanted to burn everyone with the heat of his look. On top of that, the fans were calling out his name with affection. Yet, he didn’t look back at them, let alone wave.

This behavior got to my nerves and I reacted in an improper way.

That day, a seed was buried in my heart—a kernel that later went on to become a large tree that bore fruits of despise for the now Test captain of India.

No matter how well he played, I was never willing to give him the full credit. Whatever he did, it just wasn’t enough for me to swallow the bitter pill of ego and accept his inhuman abilities as a batsman or like him, for that matter.

However, as time passed by, I began to embrace his greatness little by little. It started with his 86-ball 133 against Sri Lanka while successfully chasing down 321 in just 36.4 overs. The only word to describe that innings would be: magical.

For India to qualify for the final of the Commonwealth Bank series 2012, they had to gain the bonus point – and chasing down a mammoth target of 321 within 40 overs was the only way for them to do so.

That day, he batted like a true champion and forcefully induced some amount of admiration in me for him.

The trajectory kept going upwards since then. Countless more great innings were played by him and even though I didn’t really watch many of them, the article reviews of his innings certainly stamped a place in my mind.

Then came this year: 2016, his finest one as a cricketer thus far.

This year, he has reached new heights, especially T20s. He has scored 4 centuries in this IPL alone and his runs tally, after 13 games, stands at 919—which is the highest by a single batsman in a T20 tournament.

If that wasn’t enough, he now has 1544 runs in T20s this year—and it’s only May with more than half a year of cricket awaiting.

However, it wasn’t only the cricket that has truly shifted my paradigms from loathing to liking.

I had made peace with the fact that he is a great batsman a long time ago, so watching him bat even better couldn’t possibly trigger the waves of affection in such a gargantuan manner.

In a world like this, where selfishness prevails above everything, charity is the biggest act of virtue one can possess.

Virat Kohli possesses many brilliant qualities as a batsman, but that doesn’t make him a great man. What makes him a beautiful person is his charitable nature. He has a charitable foundation for kids as well an old age home for abandoned parents.

He is also well renowned for giving off match fees and giving a portion of it to the underprivileged.

And then there is his humility. According to many, he is the best batsman in the world. But if he himself is to be believed, then AB De Villiers is undoubtedly the greatest of this era. At every opportunity that he gets, he makes sure to claim that the South African is the best batsman in the game – like he did after de Villiers scored a match-winning 79 against Gujarat Lions.

Finally, the passion he has for the game is a lovely sight in itself. Unlike MS Dhoni, who doesn’t give way to emotions, Kohli is one hell of an animated character – and their previous game against Gujarat was a testament to that. He had a jubilant reaction for every shot that crossed the boundary and when Iqbal Abdulla hit the winning runs, his face oozed pure ecstasy as he ran on to the pitch to celebrate the win. This love for the game is enough to bring a smile on the faces of fans.

Somewhere along the line, these acts have worked like a charm in removing the impression I had of him. He came off as a self-centered arrogant brat with an elephant-sized ego. Now, however, it would be a crime to not admit otherwise.

They say that the first impression is a lasting one—and they were true. However, even initial viewpoints can change when the person in question is genuinely kind from within.

Kohli is a man who lost his father at a very young age. The sadness of losing a father grew within him and he channeled that frustration in a positive manner. Sometimes, it came off in a wrong way. But when you take a deeper look, his true self can be seen.

I loathed Virat Kohli, now I love him—and his kind-hearted nature, coupled with the fact that my better half absolutely adores him, forced that change within me.