Virat Kohli — Inspiring an entire generation with his passion and dedication
Before I begin, I don’t follow cricket very actively. But whenever I can, I absolutely make it a point to watch and enjoy matches. The second disclaimer I have is, I love each and every person on the Indian cricket team (men and women) but this article is dedicated to Virat Kohli and I will try to do justice to his legacy!
I love listening to interviews by celebrities, cricketers because it gives you such a detailed insight into their lives. Everybody has a lovely story to tell — of struggle, of passion, achieving fame, building up on it and more. I happened to come across an interview of Virat Kohli and it sort of changed my perception for him entirely.
Before I talk about the interview, here is what I thought of Virat Kohli — A young hot headed cricketer who achieved some early fame by winning the Under 19 World Cup for India (as the captain). He seemed brash, aggressive and fought with so many people on the field. You found him abusing if he lost or situations he wasn’t comfortable in.
He was modelling, getting a lot of popularity (played well, no doubt about it) but he seemed to be seen more with models and actresses than with cricketers. I can go on and on about all of this, but what’s the point? Let’s move on, because I absolutely love him now!
Coming back to what I heard in the interview — He was talking to the host ( I believe Gaurav Kapoor) where he said these lines — He said he was enjoying the fame, popularity, had food and enjoyed his life but he was not the best version of himself. One day he realized that to become like his hero — The great Sachin Tendulkar, he had to stop giving in to all temptations and become more disciplined.
From that day onwards, he exercised daily, lost weight and focused on one thing — Becoming the best batsman there is. Do you know something else that inspired me even more? He is a self proclaimed foodie. Being a Delhi boy, he enjoyed chaats, Paratha, chole Kulche and more. The day he decided on becoming focused, he let go of it and controlled his diet. As of the time of interview it had been 4–5 years he had even had Chole Kulche.
I know this doesn’t seem like a big thing but it’s huge for someone who’s a foodie like me and for many others. Food is a mode of expression, you are happy you eat what you like, you are sad, you eat what you crave for. Most often than not, you cannot resist the temptation of eating the food you absolutely love. Hence a few extra kilos on most people here and a host of health problems that crop up. Because of this statement by Virat, I saw him in an entirely different light. If you can let go of the one thing that you love the most in your quest for becoming great, you have a higher chance of becoming one.
The second thing that stood out for me was — his focus on being fit and working out daily. He has told this in multiple interviews and he has since stuck by it even till date. He said that he does not feel so bad if he has to miss a cricket practice one day, but if he has to miss a workout session for even one day he feels really bad. And that works out for him on the field. He is the fastest runner, does not shy away from running instead of focusing only on fours and sixes. His catches are amazing, running across the field is brilliant.
I became a huge fan after listening to this and following him for over the last decade. He is pure class. The confidence he oozes has seeped into his team, from the time he was the captain. People might question him on his captaincy but each captain infuses a distinct trait to his fellow team members and the general spirit of the team. Virat’s contribution to his team is focused on perfecting the craft and being fit.
Do you remember a time when players used to be unfit, had surgeries, were off the team for months and the team suffered. It is considerably less now. On his 35th birthday (today), he scored his 49th ODI century taking him on par with his hero — Sachin Tendulkar. This moment is to be cherished forever and hence deserves a place in my blog collection even though I do not
You can read more about his achievements here, if you would like to — https://timesofsports.com/cricket/featured/virat-kohli-records-awards-list/
