Dear Virat Kohli,
First of all, I would like to wish you the happiest of birthdays ever. May god bless you with more success both on and off the field for years to come.
We Indians have been following the game of cricket since our birth. It is not only a game for us but much more than that. We skip our meals when India loses. And our country, much to the joy of its supporters, has produced some of the greatest talents the gentleman’s game has ever seen. We are all familiar with the likes of the mighty Sachin’s and Dravid’s who dominated the world cricket throughout their careers.
But every player is bound to retire at some point or the other in his/her career. And the retirement of the fabulous four (Sachin, Dravid, Sourav and Laxman) came as a big blow to us, the Indian cricket fans. Many thought the golden era of our beloved Indian cricket just got over. We would never again produce a hero who would be topping the ranking charts for years to come. But if there is anyone who has proved all of us wrong then it is you. You are a player with great caliber and talent. The way you are performing at the moment is quite impossible for us ordinary people to think of. It is because of you the whole country stays glued to their television sets when India is playing. It is because of you runs keep coming as easy as a nursery question paper.
But your responsibility does not end here. You are not even half way in your career to take things lightly. Do not expect us to be fair to you all the time. You will be criticized when you play badly. You would be thrown bottles at and you would see hate statuses going up against your name when you fail to deliver. But believe me there is a fun side to it. And we all know how much you love accepting challenges. You need to take all these criticisms and become more powerful so that we can continue chanting your name and dominating world cricket just like we are doing now.
You have been handed over the captain’s role for the Test side and you will become the ODI captain soon too. Remember you have to fill in the boots of the great Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni which would not at all be an easy task. You will have to take the blames on yourself whenever the team loses. We will not tolerate an inch of disrespect to our national team and country. We will not tolerate a day of casualness in the practice sessions. We expect you to give your 200 percent whenever you go out to play in the blue jersey. Trust me, we do not care if you fail to deliver for the Royal Challengers Bangalore but we do care if you fail to perform for the Men in Blue.
Amidst these harsh words I would also like to point out that 26 international hundreds at the age of 27 is quite freakish. Continue to rule your favorite sport just as you are doing. Never let your aggression go down on the field. Be hungry for more. And do not doubt our support ever when you step onto that lush green field. Remember we all chant your name every time you go out to bat. We expect a biggie out of every delivery you face. We expect a win in every match you play. You are not alone. We all are with you to provide you every inch of support you need to get going. But do not disappoint us, ever.
Lastly, we all are a bit jealous of you for taking away our childhood crush away from us but trust me we would not mind that if you promise us more runs in the future. Hahaha. Play to your strengths and continue to rule our hearts forever, champion.
– A cricket fan
Saunak Nag