Virat Kohli - a new version?

In the relentless frenzy of the WT20, there is barely a moment which is not high profile or sober. Teams compete, some win and some lose, heroes and villains swap roles and they move to their next venues, trotting along lines traced by their itineraries to compete again another day, another game, another beginning.

One would wonder what high-efficiency machines lay hidden in these humans that propel them to perform their best every time they took the field. Given the high expectations and the adrenalin overdose that the competition gives to everybody involved, it is almost miraculous that a few players consistently find for themselves a zone of mental peace and calm.

It is as ironical and innate as performers of daredevilry finding soothing calm in meditation, a planned routine and well-placed nonchalance.

That Virat Kohli is a master of chasing totals is a well-established identity. That he has humongous hunger for success and that he revels in demanding situations and against tough opponents is conventional wisdom too. It is known popularly that his work ethic is exemplary.

There is an air of confidence in the hall when I watch a match on TV where India is chasing a stiff target and dear Kohli is flipping his bat in his palms. To not be blown away by some of his shots is myself being too rigid fearing that I would fall in love with his batting and persona.

Virat has always been a batsman I admire, but being almost of the same age, I have become used to chiding him and at times howling at him in my head for his consistent temptation to be drawn into quarrels and arguments on the field. There is always a video that plays in my thoughts.

It goes along the lines of Virat and I talking in the pavilion and I giving him a piece of my mind, asking him to focus more on things that mattered and that that would elevate his already beautiful game to an extremely consummate high! I have always felt that the boy in him would ferociously come out at every possible occasion and that he and his teams would be better served if this boy would be a little restrained.

Isn’t that the first hurdle in the path to greatness? If only reigning the mind was so easy, the boulevards leading to sports’ halls of fame would have been much more crowded!

But of late, Virat Kohli seems to be in a different planet. One where calmness and peace are the ways of life. He seems to be unflustered by his surroundings and the din when he walks into every innings. The batting is taking care of itself (like it always did), but the man seems to be managing his supreme talent and ravenous appetite for big success much more efficiently.

Just picture this- He plays the shot of the match and there is no big swagger, he gets out, there is no overt demonstration of disgust. This is not to write off his “heart on sleeve” approach to cricket which has been the foundation of Kohli-the cricketer whom millions adore and who I am beginning to fall for.

I wonder sometimes if it becomes more and more clear that you are the best in the business and are surely on the path to celebrate greatness, you tend to seat yourself into a more comfortable chair, for there is nothing to prove to anybody- most of all- your doubting self.

Maybe after scoring a lot of runs in limited overs cricket, Kohli is at ease with his abilities with the bat and mind. If that’s even partly true, then this is a classic case of “coming of age” and the cricket fan in general and the Indian fan in particular has much to be delirious about. If I were a soothsayer- I better be believed that the runs will only get bigger from now on.

If his actions -gifting a bat to Mohammed Amir, playing glorious innings and scripting near perfect chases nonchalantly - walking back calmly after being bowled in the match against Bangladesh etc. are anything to go by, Kohli the electric figure on the ground is slowly transforming into an exalted one!

I feel this version of Kohli coming to me and whispering these famous lines by Kipling in my ear

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same…..you’ll be a Man my son!”