Virat Kohli : Aiming for Improvement, Not Just as a Cricketer

Improvement  – I have never been this calm in my life!

The last five years of cricket have been amazing. I remember the days when this young man joined the Indian cricket team and I found him quite an energetic guy, with a lot of passion for the game. It was the time when Indian board was looking at young cricketers and this guy surely was different. His attitude was different, there was a lot of fire in him and I thought maybe he is young and will take time to mature.

As I read this quote, I bow my head in sheer respect. Virat Kohli has sure come a long way from the first match I saw him in to where he is now. He is one of the high performing batsmen the world has ever seen, more importantly, his consistency is astounding. I am too small a person to comment on the improvement of his cricket game. But his presence, the way he has carried himself on the field, with the media, with his personal and professional life has been truly remarkable and I have nothing but respect for that.

In every one of these occasions, he has shown an absolute maturity and he has been on top of things, in full control. He has been one of the highest run scorers and he has proved his prowess not only in the 20-20 but also the 50 over match and also the test cricket as well. In each one of them, he has proved that he has been Mr.Dependable over and over again.

What makes his achievement so consistent?

Coming to the emotional quotient part, I am thinking – what makes someone perform so well, so consistently at such a competitive level. What is the secret of his achievement?

• I am sure the answer is not talent alone. It can only be a part of it, but cannot be a complete truth. If it is, I don’t want to believe it because that gives us no lessons at all. It just makes us feel that they are the privileged ones and we can never aim to get there in life.
• I am also sure that the answer is not LUCK. Granted that he has made his money, reached his success and all those things. I am sure none of these has come easy for him, he would have had to work hard for each one of them. And sometimes if not directly, indirectly in a more arduous way.
• I am also certain that it is not God’s will cos god cannot be that partial in sharing talent either.

The one word that catches my eye in his quote here is “Improvement” and how he generalises to not only cricket but also his life. Kudos to him for saying something so erudite. At the same time, it is a lesson for us to realise that there isn’t much of a difference between who we are and what we want to do. The moment we realise that life is a whole load of things, not just our job alone. And in this case, I would take a liberty and say – cricket is his job alone, not his life in entirety. Imagine the amount of personal growth we can achieve if we are able to look at life as improvement?

It can literally open us plenty of doors.

Thoughts?

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