Earlier this week one of the biggest cricketers of India, no, world, retired from test cricket.
Now, like most Indians, I am not a cricket fan. My cricket watching began in 1999 with being limited only to keeping a score of India’s matches during World Cup. It is still pretty much that.
However, because of being on social media (guilty not gay) I have observed Virat over the past few years, and how big of an inspirational guy he has become.
- First things first, he did not wait for a few more runs to complete the landmark of 10K test runs. When he knew it was time, he stepped back without lingering for the reward. Despite knowing that it would have been achievable.
- Over the past few months, he has become quite detached. Not posting a picture with Champions Trophy is one instance. There are other instances too, such as spending a lot of time in London, staying away from media often, and even deleting all the ads on his Instagram.
- But this detachment does not ever stop him from giving his best to the game. At the best, it has only made him sharper and more focused. He cracks jokes with team mates, shows up for practice even though he is Virat Kohli, and is still a great IPL player despite not playing T20 internationally. Or look at his joy in the dressing room even though he could sit passively. He is detached, but always gives his 120%.
- He has absolute dedication for the sport. Even Anushka said in an interview that whenever any wicket is taken, Virat celebrates even more than the bowler. It could not happen if he did not love the sport as much as he does.
- An acute sense of awareness. He knows that he gets to live his dream every day, and it is not a struggle. In one of the interviews he said “I could glorify my hard work and call it a struggle, but the true struggler is the man who does not get two meals a day to feed himself.”
- Always respecting of captain Rohit: He allows Rohit to walk ahead of him. I have seen it in multiple instances. At the same time, he is leading from front with Rohit, each time the team needs leadership.
- He has never rested on his laurels. He is apparently not playing for a record or to pay his bills (and he doesn’t need to). He is still the fittest person in the cricket team, and it requires effort to be an international athlete of this caliber. And to show up and do these while having two very young kids at home requires another level of insane commitment.
- Which brings us to the most important part: His family life. The internet (mostly) adores how Virat has transformed in a positive manner after his marriage. And how Virat and Anushka are a great pair. While that is true, I am sure it requires devotion on both their parts and massive sacrifices on the part of Anushka to reach there. It is not easy to be the amongst the top 5 actresses of Bollywood (that too not being a nepo) and achieving what Anushka had. But the family life Virat and Anushka have created while not listening to anyone else on the internet, is true success. True success is a happy family.
Virat is not fully retired from international cricket yet. He is probably eyeing the 2027 ODI world cup, deservedly so. However, we do not always have to wait for an inning to end to decide what the match’s result would be. In Virat’s case, his result is quite clear in the middle of innings too. He has shown the results in grand and granular ways each time he has stepped on to the ground.
For that, I tip my hat. But more than that, I learn what does it take to become who has become. Relentless execution and a focused mind is the prefix of an iconic success.
