Kohli's 'larger than game' persona is hurting his team

Kohli’s ‘larger than game’ persona is hurting his team

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The other day star batter Virat Kohli said something really amusing.
Kohli said that it is all about winning games for his team and he has done it for 15 years. It is a part of his curriculum and he meant that commentators like Sunil Gavaskar have no business creating unnecessary buzz around his strike rate and ability to play against spinners.
Former Indian captain Gavaskar was furious at Kohli’s rant. And why won’t he be? The credibility of the commentators who have played cricket for years had been questioned. He also requested the IPL official broadcaster not to re-telecast Kohli speaking ill about commentators again.
Kohli claims to be a match-winner and a match-winner is supposed to win you tournaments, but he has not done that in the last 15 years.
The last time India won an ICC event was way back in 2013 and Kohli was the highest scorer in that final. At that time, Kohli wasn’t as big as he is today. From the time he became Brand Kohli, he has practically won nothing. There is a school of thought that believes that RCB will never win a tournament as long as Kohli is playing for them. Quite a statement but many of the Kohli fans who are large in numbers won’t agree to this. They are goody-goody and even today’s broadcasters are like fans.
So, glorifying an individual star over his team isn’t something that cricket teaches you.
For example the RCB Vs Delhi Capitals match last year at Kotla. A day before the match, Kohli told his teammates that he would take care of things in the middle. RCB made 181 for 4, wherein, Kohli made 55 off 46 deliveries with a strike rate of 119.56, and eventually, Delhi won the match by 7 wickets. Winning or losing a match or two isn’t the main deal. It is about winning the tournament, which Kohli hasn’t managed to do.
Why is it so? Kohli is one of the leading players in the world and one of the best of his generation, but why can’t he win tournaments for his team? Does he play for himself? Doesn’t he play for his team? Believe it or not, the hero-worship culture has created a Kohli-like character in cricket. He isn’t bigger than the game but he is made to feel like that.
Even when he decided to let go of his T20 captaincy, he did it with a fear of facing the public backlash for not winning any tournament. His policy of top-heavy batting has been pathetic and got him nowhere as the captain of India or RCB. He has complete disregard for former cricketers like Gavaskar. The only yes man like Ravi Shastri managed to gel with Kohli. Otherwise, all have flopped. Even a legend like Anil Kumble was reduced to such a calamity that no one even touched him after his unceremonious exit from the Indian team as the head coach.
Kohli is so powerful that a one-time foe like Rohit Sharma has become like him. If a bowler like Kuldeep Yadav was out of favor with the selector, it was not because of his bowling. Kuldeep was accused of leaking stories to the press about the Virat vs Rohit feud, which was a public secret. At the end of it, every cricketer should play the game for his or her team not for himself or herself. If you can’t do that, at least, just move away for others to do the job!