Tremendous show of commitment from a 18 year old

[honestbharani]

Virat Kohli


He is an 18 year old young batsman playing for Delhi.

His father unfortunately passed away yesterday early morning at 3. This youngster was 40* on the previous day and he was the last recognized batsman for his team. It is obvious that a lot depended on him since their opponents Karnataka had raked up a pretty good first innings total.

The kid showed up to the game and put on a vital partnership with the keeper, who scored 150+ BTW, and helped Delhi at least close the gap on Karnataka. He got out at 90 and as it later turned out, he was actually not out and it was an error on the umpire's part. Then he went back in the afternoon for his father's cremation. Hats off to the lad. That is a wonderful show of commitment. Word is that even the Karnataka players were almost in tears when he was given out, 10 short of an extremely well deserved hundred.

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/india/engine/current/match/263097.html

Thoughts?

 

[adharcric]

I was planning on writing about this in the thread for the Indian Domestic Season, but this does deserve a separate thread tbh. Virat Kohli is a young cricketer with immense potential and this was a very impressive act of commitment from him. To step on the field hours after the death of your father shows commitment; scoring a fighting knock simply makes it all the more special. This kid may or may not have a big future in cricket, but he is definitely a special cricketer and human being.

Kohli made big runs in the Under-19 tour to Pakistan recently and is one of several talented top-order batsmen who have broken into domestic cricket while at the U-19 level.
Others include Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Ravikant Shukla, Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan.

 

[Robertinho]

Word is that even the Karnataka players were almost in tears when he was given out, 10 short of an extremely well deserved hundred.

Haha what? Really? Then why wouldn't they just let him get a century if they were so bothered by it?

Anyway, it certainly would've taken alot of courage and mental strength to go on like that. Hopefully he does make a name for himself, not only for his actions off the field but on it as well.

 

[shankar]

Haha what? Really? Then why wouldn't they just let him get a century if they were so bothered by it?

Heh yeah that sounded odd to me as well. But they probably appealed in the intensity of the match situation and saw the bigger perspective only when he was given out and started walking back.

 

[Dravid]

Haha what? Really? Then why wouldn't they just let him get a century if they were so bothered by it?

Stupid comment tbh.

Steve Waugh in his last test scored 80 and fell 20 runs short, but Sachin still came and said congrats to him on a really good innings and that he was unlucky to fall shorts. Emotions and playing are different lets not forget. You should never give up from your side on playing your best and getting opposition out. I my self wanted the guy to get a century after going through all this, but that doesn't mean I should just let him score it and make him feel like it was an undeserved 100.

 

[silentstriker]

Good commitment. I like it, shows where his priorities lie, as they should.

 

[Fusion]

Hmmm. I might be the only one to disagree with the praise, but so be it. I always consider cricket to be a sport, not something larger than life or family. We see example like these in sports quite often. Some athlete suffers a tragic loss in the family, but chooses to play the big game anyway. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to be spending the time with the family instead and mourn the loss together (or celebrate the life if you wish)? I'm not necessarily criticizing the athletes, I'm just saying our priorities are not in order. Now if the athlete chooses to play the game as a sort of "therapy" to deal with the loss, then I understand. Otherwise, I say they should not be worried ONE PERCENT about the game and we as the public should respect that.

 

[Anil]

Hmmm. I might be the only one to disagree with the praise, but so be it. I always consider cricket to be a sport, not something larger than life or family. We see example like these in sports quite often. Some athlete suffers a tragic loss in the family, but chooses to play the big game anyway. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to be spending the time with the family instead and mourn the loss together (or celebrate the life if you wish)? I'm not necessarily criticizing the athletes, I'm just saying our priorities are not in order. Now if the athlete chooses to play the game as a sort of "therapy" to deal with the loss, then I understand. Otherwise, I say they should not be worried ONE PERCENT about the game and we as the public should respect that.

i completely agree with you...don't know why everyone is praising this so much, sounded completely weird to me that he would do that with his father so recently passed away...

 

[Ikki]

I think to even doubt what his father meant to him, by going to play for his team, is shameful. What he did showed great guts and great loyalty. Reading this made my day, thanks HB.

 

[Anil]

I think to even doubt what his father meant to him, by going to play for his team, is shameful. What he did showed great guts and great loyalty. Reading this made my day, thanks HB.

whatever passion you have for a game, for me it showed a warped sense of priorities to go and play the game the morning his father died....

 

[silentstriker]

whatever passion you have for a game, for me it showed a warped sense of priorities to go and play the game the morning his father died....

TBH your father would still be dead later, but the game might be lost forever.

 

[Anil]

TBH your father would still be dead later, but the game might be lost forever.

irrefutable logic , not talking about logic here though, but about emotions, doing the right thing by his grieving family etc...anyway i was just questioning the principle of it, neither of us know the guy or his family to argue this definitively, so i for one am gonna stop here...

 

[Ikki]

whatever passion you have for a game, for me it showed a warped sense of priorities to go and play the game the morning his father died....

Maybe he didn't do it for the game. Maybe he did it for the loyalty of his teammates? Maybe he didn't want to let anyone down - even though everyone else would have understood. That isn't even a 'tad' admirable to you? Furthermore he played great and almost got a century. Imagine his teammates on the side watching him play so hard, in the innings of his life, and doing it so selflessly for the team? I'd have been crying too.

 

[Anil]

Maybe he didn't do it for the game. Maybe he did it for the loyalty of his teammates? Maybe he didn't want to let anyone down - even though everyone else would have understood. That isn't even a 'tad' admirable to you? Furthermore he played great and almost got a century. Imagine his teammates on the side watching him play so hard, in the innings of his life, and doing it so selflessly for the team? I'd have been crying too.

ok one more post...do you think anyone would have thought he let them down if he didn't play because his dad died that morning, no way...if anyone actually feels like that, it would only be because they are prize bastards and in any case he shouldn't pay heed to such people, especially on such an occasion...

 

[Fusion]

ok one more post...do you think anyone would have thought he let them down if he didn't play because his dad died that morning, no way...if anyone actually feels like that, it would only be because they are prize bastards and in any case he shouldn't pay heed to such people, especially on such an occasion...

Agreed. I don't think either Anil or I are questioning this guy's loyalty to his teammates or love for his father. What I am questioning is society's warped sense of priorities. We have made it admirable for an athlete to play a game after suffering a massive personal loss. How many times do you hear of athletes skipping the birth of their kids because they have a big game coming up? In the end, it is only a game, no matter how important. There are bigger things in life that one should focus on IMO. I think it would be more admirable if an aggrieved person didn't think about trivial matters such as sport, and instead spent time with friends and family.

 

[Ikki]

ok one more post...do you think anyone would have thought he let them down if he didn't play because his dad died that morning, no way...if anyone actually feels like that, it would only be because they are prize bastards and in any case he shouldn't pay heed to such people, especially on such an occasion...

No, no one would have, but he still showed - that's kind of the point. It was an emotional decision that showed his strength as a person that for whatever reason, he was going to be there.

 

[Anil]

No, no one would have, but he still showed - that's kind of the point. It was an emotional decision that showed his strength as a person that for whatever reason, he was going to be there.

i doubt if it actually shows that but as i told ss, i don't know the guy personally, neither do you, so we are not qualified to make definitive statements, no point in dragging this on other than to say this left a bad aftertaste for me and is so far from a feel-good story...

 

[Ikki]

i doubt if it actually shows that but as i told ss, i don't know the guy personally, neither do you, so we are not qualified to make definitive statements, no point in dragging this on other than to say this left a bad aftertaste for me and is so far from a feel-good story...

The guy's dad just died... it wasn't an emotional decision? From the above it leaves me to think you doubt his affection towards his Dad - that is why I said to think of such a thing is "shameful" - ESPECIALLY considering you didn't know the Kohli family personally.

 

[Anil]

The guy's dad just died... it wasn't an emotional decision? From the above it leaves me to think you doubt his affection towards his Dad - that is why I said to think of such a thing is "shameful" - ESPECIALLY considering you didn't know the Kohli family personally.

and you do...since you make so many qualified judgements about his behaviour?

 

[adharcric]

Anil and Fusion bring up some very good points that I agree with to an extent. Kohli's decision to go on the field is not admirable so much for his loyalty as it is for his strength of character. From the sports perspective, it may seem that Kohli's priorities are correct (sports > family), but that's simply not the case. Here's how I like to look at it: his father would've wanted him to play the match and fulfill his passion rather than mourn his death because the love and honor for his father will be there either way, so he's showing strength of character (mental and emotional) by going out on the playing field. In some cases, the player is "doing it for his dad", so to speak.

This IMO is admirable, although he should also be there to support his family. Hopefully he's on the field inspired by his father rather than ignoring his father.
Of course, I don't know Virat Kohli personally so this could be completely inaccurate and he could actually have the wrong priorities. Something tells me that's not the case.