India play South Africa in Kolkata on Virat Kohli’s 35th birthday and the spotlight on him will only intensify
Sidharth Monga04-Nov-2023Virat Kohli walks into the nets at Eden Gardens on Saturday evening. A small crowd gathered in the stands behind him starts chanting, “King Kohli”. He gestures at them to stay quiet during the training session. And immediately there is pin-drop silence. Security officers, police, and crowd-management personnel seem redundant.Hardik Pandya gets injured while bowling against Bangladesh. Kohli comes on to complete the over. Pune goes wild. Against Sri Lanka, he conducts fans at the Wankhede like an orchestra. The digital platform streaming the World Cup breaks viewership records when he nears what would have been a 49th ODI century, against New Zealand in Dharamsala.India will play South Africa on Kohli’s 35th birthday. The Cricket Association of Bengal wants to hand out 70,000 Kohli masks to the crowd. A grand cake-cutting ceremony is planned in front of the fans. It is all cancelled – was it on Kohli’s request? – on the previous evening.Related
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India’s World Cup campaign is in full swing, but sometimes, aside of that and at times independent of that, Kohli is carrying on his symphony with his fans. Modern-day royalty and his subjects almost. Everybody is playing their part. KL Rahul is turning down singles and Ravindra Jadeja is blocking balls in the death overs, so that Kohli can get to a hundred.Coach Rahul Dravid is saying they have a “wrong-footed inswinging menace” when asked how India are planning for life without a sixth bowler. “And with the crowd behind him, I’d back him for a couple of overs there and a few wickets,” Dravid says. “The crowd was demanding his bowling in the last game. We came very close to giving him an over.”If there is one player you wouldn’t worry about in such intense spotlight, it is Kohli. But he is human too. It eventually got to Sachin Tendulkar when he neared his 100thhundred, and so Dravid was asked how Kohli is handling all the attention.”I think Virat’s been really relaxed,” Dravid said. “As you can see in his performances, batting really well for us, really keen to do well as he always is. So, look, I haven’t noticed anything different. He’s always been the same. He’s always been professional, always been hardworking, always been switched on. So, nothing different.”And no, I don’t really think he’s thinking too much about 49 and 50, and probably certainly not about his birthday getting a year older. I think he’s been really focused on winning the tournament and playing some good cricket for us. I think he’s doing that really well.”Kohli is not really a wrong-footed bowler though he might appear so. And apart from falling just short of two centuries, he has rarely been on the wrong foot when batting. Whether all this is playing on his mind or not, whether it is affecting him or not, only Kohli can tell. One thing is apparent: it hasn’t shown in the way he has batted.And why assume it might have a negative impact on a player? Imagine a whole nation celebrating your birthday with you, wishing for your milestones and cheering them with you, dancing to your tunes. What if Kohli is really enjoying it and it is having a positive impact on his game?
