On a Summer heatwave day, I stepped out to the garden for solace from the heat and stuffiness inside. In the UK: a slight excess of rain, snow and sun impacts normalcy and the school/office policy writers get busier writing plans to mitigate. Most of the time, the message is "Stay at home".
From a nearby zoo, a Lion let loose and wandered into the town. I sat on the shady swing and saw some fluff at the corner of the garden. The fluff was on the move. Yes, the fluff at large was in my garden and very large. I am now facing eye to eye with the beast. Should I fight or flight? Fight meaning run towards it and challenge it or cuddle it taking inspiration from viral social media video. Flight- to literally find ways to run away and desperate to fly if possible (Remember the song: I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky). The release of neurochemicals in the brain make me nervousness and panic. On the other hand, how to be cool to find my way of escape from the beast. Here I am at the centre stage of it and what I am supposed to do? (Continue reading it for another 30 secs)
Now shifting gears to the Cricket centre stage. There is always an adrenaline rush in us reading stories when a player or athlete fought from the brink of failure, took recovery steps to become a Champion. Sir Mo Farah's recent revelation bring shivers down the spine and a feeling of awe on his achievements. He was able to channelise his sufferings and offerings to overcome sufferings separately. A great Olympian and a legend. Let us move on to Cricket. A great batter recovered from the brink of lifestyle fight impacting his Cricket, made the necessary change with the fitness routine and hours of practice on field to bounce back to the glory of the game. I am talking about a Lion in the cricket field, Virat Kohli. Virat's aggressive cricket style has brought glory to him personally and to Team India. His last Test series as captain against England in England is a proof in the pudding to cherish India's overseas performance.
We all know from mainstream and social media that Virat Kohli is struggling for form following captaincy melodrama. He was put in state to manage a double edge sword, one edge is the workload/commitments and another edge to overcome events within a short period of time. The story of the Champion is in the stat and data of his achievements. Virat's test average is 49.53, ODI average of 58.07 and T20 strike rate of 132.60. Virat's stats are high rated than the overrated comments on media on his recent poor form. I think the new generation players need to pass the test of Zen before they start their career to manage the noise from the outside which is amplified by the social media. Anybody can use social media to scribble things to vent out which is liked and shared by another one thousand and one people sailing in the same boat to take something off their chest.
The lion in the cricket field and me against the lion in the garden(imaginative story) have a common solution to apply. A popular psychology theory states that when in stress it requires a cognitive pause to prevail a cooler head. Probably, Virat needs to take a cognitive pause in the form of focussing on just one format for the time being to get back his form and confidence. It may NOT be a good idea to rest at this juncture as it can become a flight mode (lion story) and difficult to come back. A step back and still doing what you like in a different way to enjoy the game of Cricket may get Virat back in the game. This is similar to Sir Alastair Cook who is enjoying the county games with two centuries from both the innings. This show his heart is still in the cricket after his retirement. Form is temporary and class is permanent is synonymous to Virat' status quo.
I am waiting as a Cricket fan to witness the Version 2.0 of Virat Kohli, a genius.
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