Virat Kohli’s Fight With Powerful Men
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Virat Kohli is undoubtedly the most popular cricketer in the world. He commands the respect of his teammates and opposition alike. In what has been a terrific international career spanning 15 years and counting, Kohli has achieved everything an aspiring cricketer would dream of. Let us look at details on Virat Kohli’s Fight here.
He won a U-19 World Cup as captain turbocharged his entry into international cricket. Kohli was an integral member of the ODI World Cup-winning team in 2011. He also played a major role in India’s last ICC tournament win i.e. the Champions Trophy in 2013.
Individual milestones galore:
Kohli is easily the best batsman across formats in the current generation. The fact that he has held on to this stature for over a decade sums up his brilliance. Kohli is the only active Test cricketer to score 7 double centuries. He is the only batter playing active cricket to have 25+ centuries in 2 formats of the game.
There is very little that Kohli hasn’t achieved as a player but he too has had his fair share of battles. These battles at times have also gone ugly. Kohli at numerous stages of his career has challenged the ones who are in power. Be it fighting against Australia in their den or with authorities who run the game.
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We look at Virat Kohli’s Fight with powerful men:
The fallout of Virat vs Anil Kumble:
There was a huge buzz around the Indian team in 2016 when Anil Kumble was chosen as the head coach. He was preferred over incumbent, Ravi Shastri. Kumble brought along with him terrific professional ethics. He was a fighter himself who battled many odds in his playing career. The captain-coach duo of Kohli-Kumble was expected to take India to greater heights. India who played 17 Tests in a single season under their reign won 12, drew 4, and lost just 1.
They won all the series they played (2+ matches). It all appeared hunky dory before the cracks started appearing. Apparently, an injured Kohli was not in favour of 5 bowlers in the 4th Test against Australia. But coach Kumble wanted 3 spinners and 2 pacers for the decider.
It is widely speculated that the pair didn’t meet each other eye to eye from that moment onward. Post India’s crushing 2017 CT final loss to Pakistan, it reached a boiling point. Kohli and the team refused to budge and Kumble had to eventually resign. It remains one of the darkest chapters of his captaincy career.
The infamous Virat vs Sourav Ganguly episode:
It is understood that it was at Sourav Ganguly’s behest that Anil Kumble was appointed as the coach over Ravi Shastri. But Kohli had his way in 2017 when he ensured Shastri got back his seat. There was almost no one to stop Kohli during the phase between 2016-19. He scored a truckload of runs and was leading from the front across conditions. But the semifinal exit in the 2019 World Cup slowly opened a door of worms.
Kohli was no longer the most powerful voice. The appointment of Sourav Ganguly as BCCI president tilted the balance in Indian cricket. There was a constant shade of doubt planted over Kohli. The barren stretch of centuries added insult to injury. India lost the WTC Final in 2021, and the 2021 T20 World Cup appeared as Kohli’s last chance as captain.
He read the signs before it became evident. Kohli announced his resignation from T20 captaincy at the end of the T20 World Cup. The board then removed him from ODI captaincy too. In a stunning declaration, Kohli just a month later resigned from Test captaincy too. The way things were handled with Kohli left a lot to be desired.
His coming back to form and winning India games all on his own showed that all he needed was a little more support. Kohli confessed in no clear words that he did feel the system let him down and only a select few stood by him. He now operates in zen-mode maybe indicating that he is done picking and fighting battles with whoever disapproves of his style! It well and truly is the 2.0 version of the greatest batter of our times – Virat Kohli!
