Where is Virat Kohli? Fans deserve an answer

Former India captain Virat Kohli (BCCI Photo)

There is speculation over the future of Virat Kohli. If the grapevine is to be believed, selection committee head Ajit Agarkar tried to have a word with him regarding the series in Australia. If he will be selected, nobody knows. The batting legend has retired from the other two formats.

The problem seems to be the fact that Kohli is incommunicable. People who try to contact are unable to get in touch with him. He is possibly in the UK with his family. And he doesn’t respond to normal means of communication. That’s a queer problem. If one remembers, MS Dhoni was a similar sort of a person. He, too, could not be contacted unless he wanted. Dhoni’s protégé according to many, Kohli has developed a similar characteristic.

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The ODI series in Australia may not be of paramount importance right now, because India’s white-ball priority is the T20 World Cup in February-March. But it’s significant considering the future of perhaps the greatest player in that format. With an average of 57.88 and 51 centuries under his belt, Kohli is a colossus in the history of ODIs. Nobody mastered the art of chasing better than him. But now, comes the critical question. Is he going to be around until the World Cup in 2027?

A member of Dhoni’s 2011 World Cup winning team, Kohli might still have the hunger. He came close to winning it again in 2023. He was the most outstanding batter in that edition of the competition. Possibly, that was the greatest-ever show of one batter dominating a tournament. But does he want to do that again?

That’s a question only Kohli can answer. And if reports are to be believed, he is not answering calls. Without a doubt, this puts Agarkar and the selection committee in a tricky situation. What do they do? How do they plan? It’s a matter of the national team’s ODI future after all. To an extent, it’s a sign of irresponsibility on part of the player to not respond to queries.

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How the Indian cricket establishment addresses this is going to be interesting to watch. The thumb rule is, nobody is above the game. No matter how big a great you are, the team is ahead of you. Does Kohli think he is different because he is a great? Difficult to answer that. But if there are signals that he might be thinking so, then the board must react accordingly.

Indian cricket is never short of drama. Something or the other goes on all the time, invariably. This Kohli going incommunicado episode is an addition to that list. How it unfolds will determine the destiny of the world’s finest-ever ODI batter. Fans have a right to know what is happening.