WHY YOUNG-ONES, TODAY, NEED AN ICON LIKE VIRAT KOHLI




My son was watching the last night’s India vs. England ODI. He called me to watch the presentation ceremony. That’s when I learnt what had actually happened!

My son is a massive fan of Virart Kohli. I am particularly happy for that… Call me selfish or call me over-optimistic about one’s children, it’s okay…

Let me reason out as to why young-ones – leave alone my own 24-year-old – yes, let me reason out as to why young-ones, today, need an icon like Virat Kohli, the present Indian Captain in all three formats of cricket…

1.      FOR BEING FAITHFUL TO HIS CHILDHOOD PASSION FOR CRICKET. I find a few young -ones remaining steadfast to their passions. Be it studies, sports, music, acting,  business, politics, writing, teaching, social work, even relationship,  whatever… young ones get distracted very fast, these days… they get carried away by changing fads… the commitment, integrity, dedication, a long-term vision… and, above all, the basic guiding philosophy about life… yes, I find it wanting in a large section of youth. They need badly icons like Tendulkar, Dhoni and Kohli. Yes, for this reason, I am happy; my son treats all of them as his icons.

2.      FOR BEING HUNGRY FOR STELLAR PERFORMANCES ALL THROUGH. Yes, nothing is ‘certain’ in cricket. But, the way Kohli has gone about – and still goes about – his game, and now with additional responsibility as an all-3-format captain – yes, it is something I want all young-ones to emulate… and be hungry for. Hunger for consistency… is the name of the game!


3.      FOR BEING A FAITHFUL LEARNER. I watched one of the latest interviews of Kohli where he talks about the role Dhoni has played in his journey. He says, for him, Dhoni will be still his captain…. Because, he has been groomed and moulded and treated as trustworthy by MS. I don’t find many young men today treating their teachers and mentors the way Kohli does. I am not complaining… I just want our young-ones not to forget their coaches, teachers and mentors… that’s all.

4.      FOR THE SELF-BELIEF AND FOR BEING LEADING FROM THE FRONT. Last night’s match was a proof for that. Asked about his state of mind when India were in a deep hole (chasing 350 runs!), Kohli replied after the gut-wrenching victory: “At 63 for 4, yes, I was still thinking of a win. The only way we could have come out of this was to counterattack. We needed to tell the opposition that we believe we can win.”

“Who is the opposition for our young-ones, today?”… I want them to emulate this mindset from their icon.

‘The Killer instinct’… they used to call it. I want our young-ones to seriously find out what it is…

5.      FOR BEING FAITHFUL TO HIS LADY LOVE. Well, anything can happen there, as well. I love both Virat and Anushka. So, I want them to go all the way. All that I know about their relationship has come from news, social media and grapevine… So, what is the real story, I do not know. But, I am happy for them because they have handled their ‘roller-coaster’ well so far.

I find young ones around me – lots and lots of them – so casual when it comes to their relationships. Maybe, I am yet to get in sync with the attitude and approach to love life which is rampant around me… Maybe, I should simply shut my eyes and mouth… and sentimental heart to this. Let the young- ones be…

Still, I pray our young-ones show more depth, more commitment to their relationships.

So, that was the reason why I felt so nice and elated last night when Kohli, like a gladiator, clinched a ‘victory’ for us…

I said, ‘victory’… And, it is not about ‘Cricket’, you see.

GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic.: Deccan Chronicle/Internet

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