Cricket is a game loved by millions of fans. But only some make it to the top. And only a few get the adulation of fans. Virat Kohli is one of them. The cricket-loving public in India seem to chart his every move and his every run. On a rather pleasant morning in Bengaluru, when news broke that Kohli could end up playing a Vijay Hazare Trophy game or two, at his beloved Chinnaswamy Stadium, fans erupted in joy.
Soon, the enthusiasm was dampened with the news coming through that it will be played in front of empty stands. In an hour or two, it was confirmed that the Delhi-Andhra encounter will be hosted by the Centre of Excellence in Allur and not at Chinnaswamy. It’s far away from the heart of the city. To connect the dots, the state government wasn’t ready to take a risk with regard to crowd control. In a nutshell, in the aftermath of the tragic events during RCB’s IPL celebrations on June 4, the iconic Chinnaswamy has kind of become cricket’s pariah.
Beneath fans’ disappointment, the kind of hysteria that one noticed on Kohli playing a domestic game once again narrated a story — that he is the Pied Piper of modern-day cricket. The obsession to even catch a glimpse of Kohli could be gauged during RCB’s celebrations. Passionate fans were ready to climb on the top of buses, lorries, trees and what not. Unfortunately, that frenzied atmosphere turned into a stampede, with several people losing their lives.
For the moment, let’s try to veer away from that catastrophic event and bring in some positivity. With Kohli in the mix, it would definitely galvanise the rest of the players in the Delhi set-up. One has to remember that Delhi will also have the services of Rishabh Pant in their ranks.
Just think of the likes of Priyansh Arya, Divij Mehra, Prince Yadav, Tejasvi Dahiya, Ayush Doseja, Simarjeet Singh, Ayush Badoni and the rest rubbing shoulders with Kohli, Pant and Ishant Sharma. This is the time for youngsters to watch how the seniors go about their training ahead of a match. Also, this is the time for promising cricketers to gain valuable insights. It would also motivate bowlers from Andhra to lift their game. Now, prising out either Kohli or Pant would definitely bring your name into the limelight. Who knows? Nitish Reddy, S Raju or the underrated Saurabh Kumar could be hogging the headlines.
Just do some number-crunching and you will realise that Kohli is partaking in a Vijay Hazare Trophy game after a gap of over 5,800 days. Somewhere in February 2010, when Delhi took on Services, Kohli had only two ODI tons to his name. He has amassed 51 more centuries in that one format itself. It was so far back that Priyansh and Prince were just nine years old. Now, those two are teammates of the great cricketer.
Just peel the outside layer of the above-mentioned paragraph and you will unearth the larger picture. With stars representing their respective states, domestic cricket is gaining some traction among cricket lovers. Long live domestic cricket!
Also Read Empty stands expected for Kohli’s Vijay Hazare Trophy outing in Bengaluru
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