📢 On No.18
Some reflections on the Kohli retirement
The legend of Virat Kohli has been marked by contradiction.
His existence in Indian cricket felt inherently anti-establishment. And yet, few put a higher value on the traditions of Test cricket in the way he did.
He was wreathed in aggression, perennially foul-mouthed and often obnoxious. And yet, the manner in which he publicly simped over his wife and was always quick to point towards her role in his success was a dagger to his on-field toxic masculinity.
There was contradiction in the manner of his departure from Test cricket too. Virat retired 770 runs short of 10,000 - a milestone only three other Indians have reached. This is the same player who has painstakingly hogged the strike in the closing stages of matches in recent ICC tournaments to ensure he hits the three-figure mark.
At his core, Kohli was a showman. A player raised in the spotlight, whose performances were proportional to pressure. The runs dipped in the last few years but the promise of spectacle never did. It was tough to keep your eyes off Virat on the field (in part due to broadcasters’ obsession with him). And yet, blink and you would have missed him exiting stage left. The final bow was uncharacteristically muted, with a simple Instagram post and semi-poignant caption.
Catharsis could be found in the comments section. From Bollywood actors to Olympians, from YouTubers to rappers, from an ex-colleague to my cousin brother, the eulogies (and crying-face emojis) poured in.
Personally, the Virat retirement made me feel the way I did when Arsene Wenger left Arsenal in 2018. I was firmly in the #WengerOut brigade but when the Frenchman did actually depart, I felt gutted. Guilty, even.
No cricketer has captured my imagination in the way Virat has but for some time now, I have been banging the drum for him to relinquish the whites. The fifth-stump line, the expression of disbelief as he edged again to slip, the average of 32 in the past four years - it was all just painful to watch. If he wasn’t Virat Kohli, he wouldn’t have been given as long a rope. If he wasn’t Indian, he would have been dropped a long time ago.
At the same time, it’s worth mentioning that in the past five years, of batters who have played at least 15 Tests, only one (Rishabh Pant) has averaged above 40. India’s batting collapses - which have grown progressively sharper over the past year - can’t be put on Virat’s shoulders.
But, his slump was reflective of a transition that had been put off for too long. The BCCI were happy to wait for Kohli to turn the tide. But after an Australia tour that he called one of the most difficult phases of his career, he knew his ship had sailed. Retirement was the only way for him to leave with dignity.
It’s strange and perhaps even wrong to call a career with 9230 runs, 30 Test centuries, a 70% win-rate as captain as a case of unfulfilled potential. But, this isn’t a putdown. It’s a testament to the heights to which he soared between 2014 and 2020.
In that period, he scored 5811 runs at an average of 56 with 22 centuries, nine of which came against England and Australia. For that period, he will be eternal.
Consumption Corner
What I’m watching: I’ve been engrossed in the world of The Americans, the mid-2010s FX show of two undercover KGB agents raising a family in the suburbs of Washington DC during the 1980s.
What I’m listening to: An episode from the media podcast The Press Room on the publications that were lost in the 21st century.
What I’m reading: A Semafor piece on the growing rave and music festival culture in Saudi Arabia that details mocktail bars, women-only spaces and Eminem bellowing “My name is Salim Shadi, and you’ve all made me so at home I’m going to buy a house and move to motherf*ckin’ Riyadh!”