“I suppose the whole of life becomes an act of letting go. But what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.”
— Irrfan Khan, Life of Pi
This one hit hard.
The last 24 hours I have been watching reels, YouTube videos, threads and tributes.
Trying to delay the inevitable. That is to actually process what has just happened.
Virat Kohli has stepped away. Test cricket’s most passionate son has said goodbye.
We knew the end was near. The runs had dried up. The spark wasn’t quite the same.
But he had just won the T20 World Cup in 2024 and looked fit as ever. We thought there was still time—one last tour, one final roar, a 2010 Tendulkar-esque year.
And then, just like that, it was over.
No farewell match. No final Test century.
Just the silence that follows the end of something important, the kind that lingers when you never got to say goodbye.
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“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
—T.S. Eliot, English poet
I wasn’t the most ardent Kohli fan when he arrived on the scene. He was loud, aggressive, unapologetic, everything that I wasn’t drawn to.
I had a particular affinity for the Dravids, Rahanes, Pujaras, and Williamsons of this world. Quiet & understated, just going about their business.
Then came December 2014. Adelaide and Melbourne.
Those five days in Adelaide changed everything. Twin centuries and going for the win in the 2nd innings. Although that shot to Nathan Lyon still haunts me, that loss still felt like a win.
India was not afraid because Kohli was not afraid.
In Melbourne, Kohli and his partner in crime, Rahane, took Johnson on and shred him apart. They matched Australia’s pace attack blow for blow.
Remember, this is the same Mitchell Johnson that was at his peak in 2013, single-handedly dismantling England’s No. 1 Test team and striking fear in the eyes of South Africa’s batters.
For anybody that lived through the 0-8 horrors of 2011, this felt like a beginning of a new dawn for Indian Test cricket.
Kohli didn’t just play.
He fought. Believed. He risked it to see how far he and his team could go.
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“Yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.”
— Rafiki, The Lion King
2014, England. Not the most pleasant of memories for Virat Kohli.
Edged and Gone (Read this in Michael Holding’s voice).
Edge. Again. And again.
The tour broke him.
But four years later, he would return and conquer the same bowlers on the same soil.
593 runs, 2 centuries, 3 fifties.
He did not run from the past. He learned from it and rewrote it.
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“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
— Rumi
Over the years, Kohli did not just evolve as a cricketer, but grew as a human being.
He carried the weight of a nation. He changed his lifestyle and started a fitness revolution.
To help India win abroad, he nurtured a bowling attack that would become the envy of the world. He did more for Test cricket than the World Test Championship itself.
He began his career trying to prove his worth to everybody By the time he retired, he had become a father & a family, a wise leader, and a teammate others could count on.
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Over the years, Virat Kohli grew on me.
I wanted him to score runs and wear his heart on his sleeve because he lived the way I sometimes wished I could. He was everything I never quite let myself be.
He taught me to never back down, keep pushing even when I didn’t feel like it. But most of all, he showed me what it means to give yourself completely to your craft.
You can question his antics. You can question his demeanor. But you can’t question his commitment. And that—that’s who I’d like to be.
Test cricket loses more than just a cricketer or batter today. It loses its soul, its most passionate son.
Goodbye, Virat. And thank you. For making us feel…well everything. Carrying Test cricket like it mattered more than anything else. Showing us what it looks like to care.
Kohli gave us joy. He entertained us.
Frustrated us, inspired us, and earned our respect. He even made us question his technique outside off.
He made us smile. And now, he’s making us cry.
Goodbye, Virat.
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Thank you all for reading!
They were not quite their predecessors. But they were ours.
Pujara didn’t scale Dravid’s walls.
Rahane couldn’t emulate Laxman’s miracles.
Rohit didn’t dominate Test match opening like Sehwag once did.
And Virat didn’t quite reach the mountain top Tendulkar stood on.But… pic.twitter.com/07xLyg47LI
— Broken Cricket Dreams Cricket Blog (@cricket_broken) May 12, 2025
If you liked this, you may like other Tribute Articles:
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