Virat Kohli retired: What was Sachin Tendulkar for Millennials, Virat Kohli was for General Z. Cricket news

New Delhi:

“And now, the end is near, and so I face the last curtain …”When Virat Kohli posted his retirement video while playing in the background with Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”, it separated. This was not just the option of song. This was a statement. The way Kohli has played cricket completely on his terms, similarly bold, emotional, unbreakable.Virat Kohli’s retirement from Test cricket is not just the end of a magnificent career, this is the end of an era. Kohli was not just a cricketer after the great Sachin Tendulkar of us. That was our heartbeat, our hero, our fire. That was the reason why we woke up at 5 am for a boxing day test in Melbourne or stayed till midnight, seeing India fighting in Johannesburg. If Sachin made cricket a religion, Kohli brought an intensity that converted every session into a battlefield.Nevertheless, Kohli’s biggest gift for Indian cricket was not just a mountain of run, although 9,230 runs in 123 tests with 30 centuries are not less than extraordinary. This was the change that he brought to the mentality of the team. He created confidence. He demanded hunger. He preferred fitness as never before, not only for himself but also for an entire generation. And most severe, he increased the rise of an Indian speed attack that could dominate anywhere in the world. The choice of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Sirj became the match-match.Shane Warne once famous in 2021 said, “Virat Kohli is Test cricket. He loves it. It is the pure form of the game and every time he plays, he gives it everything.”Today, those words feel predicted.England can forget the Hodl Talk given to the handle talk before batting in the fourth innings at Lord’s in 2021. Kohli said, “For 60 overs, they should feel hell.” Caught whatever was erected by that one line, raw and electric in this format.Kohli’s visit, however, was not always smooth. In 2012, Sanjay Manjrekar tweeted that he would “give another test to Kohli, to ensure that he is not here.” A decade later, when Kohli retired, the same manage tweeted: “The largest brand of the modern cricketer era that gave all this for the oldest format of cricket. Test cricket gave that loan to Virat Kohli.” Kohli likes the best of doubt, disregard, and dominance.

Sanjay Manjrekar tweet

In November 2019, Kohli was 31 years old, already 7,202 test runs and 27 centuries. At that time, the 10,000 runs and 50+ average felt like a foregoing conclusion. But the years later were not kind. In the last five years, he added more than 2,000 runs, the lowest at an average of 46.85 with 9,230 runs since 2012. In the subsequent 42 tests, his average fell from 55.1 to reduce 47.After the covid break, the number reflects a rigorous reality. He took an average of just 32.09 in 37 tests. India’s top 7 batsmen averaged an average of 31.15, and globally, the average was 29.87. For a person who once re -defined greatness, those numbers felt modestly.

Virat Kohli’s final visit to Australia expressed the struggle. The eight innings were rejected, scoring just 190 runs at 23.75, with a single century in Perth Masking which was otherwise a painful farewell series.But to reduce Kohli’s legacy only in numbers, he has to remember the essence he was. He brought the theater to test cricket. He roars after wickets like a fast bowler, celebrates a draw like a win, and is accused with incredible energy in the region. His passion was contagious. His aggression was not just individual, it was the symbol of a new India, one who was not back, one who played to win, home or away.

In 2012, Kohli looked at himself in a mirror and decided that he does not look like a professional athlete. That moment gave rise to a change; He ended his diet, embraced discipline, and became the most worthy cricketer of his era.

For many fans, the fact is that he finishes his career without crossing the 10,000 Test runs and just 50 shy with average looks like a traxy. This can bother us, not because it reduces it, but because we always believed that he would defy the boundaries.But then, Kohli was always more than numbers.Quiz: Who is that IPL player?Along with Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin also, earlier this year, bending out of the format during the BGT series in Australia, and already out of the Test fold with stallwarts such as Rahen and Pujara, Kohli’s retirement actually feels like a golden generation’s last curtain call. The era that gave us a historic victory at Lord’s, Gabba, Centurion and Oval … Now there is history.For fans, this moment is more than just cricket. Kohli was not just one player. His retirement for all the gene Z fans of Kohli seems like a deep personal loss.Farewell, Virat Kohli. You did not just play Test cricket. You gave it a soul.