Virat Kohli, the pressure of T20 and the BCCI’s insane calendar

Why read this story?

Editor's note: Tamil pop culture—in particular, the comedic actors so intrinsic to its movies—introduced me to a word that has since become integral to my personal lexicon: “mindvoice,” that impish presence in the back of the head that keeps up a contrarian commentary as I listen to the noise around me. My mindvoice has been particularly active this past month, ever since Virat Kohli announced that he will give up the national Twenty20 captaincy after the upcoming World Cup, and the captaincy of his franchise after the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. “Boss,” I heard from more than one ‘cricket expert,’ “it is getting clearer by the day that this whole Virat Kohli thing is very murky.” Mindvoice: Haan? It is getting clear that it is murky? “The BCCI has been wanting to cut Virat Kohli’s superstardom to size for quite some time, yaar—now that his centuries have dried up, they figured it’s the right time…” Mindvoice: And yet Kohli remains captain of the Test team—the form he has publicly professed matters most to him—and of the One-Day squad. They …