The Day Virat Kohli Became A Man

Virat kohli is now a full-fledged superstar — captain of india, a man with amazing batting talent and the cricketing world at his feet. This wasn’t always the case, as his brash personality had threatened to come in the way of his career, in his youth. Kohli, however, fought through the odds with fierce, unwavering dedication, and his journey is captured in driven: the virat kohli story, a book by noted cricket journalist vijay lokapalli. In this moving excerpt, lokapalli writes about the sudden death of kohli’s father, and how kohli overcame his emotions and showed up to bat for delhi in a ranji trophy match the very next morning.

There was turmoil in Delhi cricket. Some seniors were in the firing line of the state selectors, as quite a few youngsters were waiting to break into the squad. There was discontent among the seniors. They felt their services to the team were being undermined, but the selectors insisted they had a job at hand – to give Delhi cricket a push in the right direction. The last Ranji Trophy title had come home in 1992, when Delhi dashed Tamil Nadu’s dreams in the final at the Ferozeshah Kotla. The pressure was on the seniors and the message was loud and clear – perform or make way for the youngsters Vijay Dahiya, a Test wicket keeper and a stalwart in the dressing room, was given a tough choice – announce retirement or face the axe. He chose to leave on his own terms, paving the way for Punit Bisht to assume the wicketkeeper’s role. ‘It is always better to go out on a high. I don’t wish to block a youngster’s way and it is the best time to leave. I don’t want to be unfair to Punit. He must get the backing to settle into his job,’ Dahiya had said. Dahiya’s debut had come against Punjab in 1993-94. He had been a member of the North Zone teams, which won the Duleep and Deodhar Trophy in 1999-2000. He had played in two Tests and nineteen ODIs.