I’m going to start with the truth: I am the worst cricketer you’ll ever meet.
Can’t catch for my life, but I can bowl a half-decent off-spin-on a good day, with a bit of luck. But what I can do is write. So this one is for him.
Even though Virat had a different view around blog writers 8 years ago 😛but I am sure all of us know he’s toned down a bit now.
And that’s exactly why Virat Kohli always felt so damn relatable.
Maybe it’s the Delhi in him, or the way he made never giving up look like a daily habit, not a highlight reel. And if you’ve ever tried to build something from scratch-be it a business, a dream, or just a better version of yourself-you know that’s the only thing that really matters.
Kohli’s actual legacy will never be about being the greatest on paper. Sure, the stats are everywhere.
But what sticks with me is the grind: showing up, doing the boring stuff, day after day, until you outpace everyone else by sheer grit and hard work.
That’s the real scoreboard.
I remember the first time I saw him-still a kid, but already senior to us. He was on TV, hurling those classic Punjabi words after winning the U19 world cup. In our all-boys school, that persona was instantly magnetic.
He wasn’t polished, but he was real.
And that made us root for him from day one.
As the years rolled on, we fell for his on-field aggression-the kind that made you believe you could fight back from anywhere.
Off the field:
→ It was the cholley bhature.
→ The guy who could talk about missing being “normal”, about smashing Chinese food after practice.
→ Or driving Anushka on a two-wheeler and telling her, “Ismein toh mein 4 scooty nikal dunga”
→ The fun flips, the Cassatta ice creams-every Delhi-Punjabi household saw a bit of themselves in him.
We didn’t obsess over his records. What mattered was seeing someone from a middle-class family go above and beyond, powered only by hard work and the discipline of showing up.
He made it feel possible for the rest of us.
His on-field comebacks made his legacy even more stronger because who doesn’t like to rally behind the underdog?
Here are just a few of those:
Kohli’s career is a masterclass in resilience. Every time he was written off, he came back harder.
We are no one to know or judge, he plays on the field not us.
We all remember pausing our lives for Sachin’s last game- but this one feels different.
Not in a stadium, but somehow, still perfect for Kohli. He’s had his share of controversies and abrupt exits, but greatness always followed.
Sachin said it best: Kohli inspires the young.
But what I feel is that he also inspired all of us -to care about fitness, to maybe pick up a bat just for the joy of it. That’s a legacy numbers can’t measure.
Test cricket is unpredictable-conditions change every day, sometimes every hour. That’s exactly what entrepreneurship feels like.
You can’t control the pitch, but you can control how you show up, ball after ball, day after day.
That’s why Kohli’s journey hits home for me personally who is building something from scratch.
This write up wasn’t about stats. You can Google those. This was about that feeling we all have now-why didn’t we watch every game more closely when he was captaining?
Now, all we can do is search YouTube for highlights, trying to relive what we missed.
There’s so much more I could write, but let’s be honest-our attention spans are short. So I’ll stop here.
But if you’re feeling that ache, that nostalgia, that urge to go back and watch just one more Kohli knock-know you’re not alone. That’s the magic he leaves behind.
If you read till here, cheer him on like never before when he plays the ODIs, you never know which game might be his last.
