Ind vs Aus 2nd ODI: Virat Kohli, dismissed for a duck yet again, raised his right hand holding his gloves not once but twice as he made the long, lonely walk back to the pavilion in Adelaide. His gesture told its own story, and everyone on the Internet is busy decoding it. Kohli was visibly upset after getting consecutive ducks for the first time in ODIs, so were his fans, though for reasons of their own.
For Kohli, the pain seems to be personal as he has carved out some of his most majestic innings at this “fortress”. It wouldn’t be a stretch if we call him the true King of this fortress, given his record as the highest run-getter across formats at Adelaide Oval, the very ground where he made his Test captaincy debut in 2014.
For his fans, however, the heartbreak was twofold. First, they were robbed of the joy of watching their king play. And second, they found themselves once again thrust into battle, taking place on social media – defending him against critics who forget too soon and forgive too late.
The emotion ran deeper because the last time he walked on the Adelaide pitch in an ODI, he scored 104 runs. Naturally, fans hoped for history to repeat itself.
“It hurts because we have to fight here every day to defend him. He doesn’t care about all this, but we still do. He doesn’t care about all this, but we still do. It hurts every time I see his trolling tweets get over 20,000 likes,” one fan wrote, before adding, “Now we can’t even survive on this platform because of you, Virat Kohli.”
Now this was a confession soaked in pain, which proves that admiring and defending someone, at times, can be exhausting.
‘Was this the last goodbye?’
A few even speculated if that subtle wave was his “final goodbye” to Adelaide. If it was his last walk? And to decode that, Kohli fans (count me in) are replaying that bit where he walks from the pitch to the pavilion.
One heartbroken fan expressed, “This is the end of everything,” while sharing a video of him “waving goodbye”.
Another joined, “Virat Kohli probably announced his retirement at Adelaide with this gesture. Feeling really sad today.”
“Was this the last goodbye?” a third wondered aloud, hoping he was wrong.
Yet another cricket fan said, “Back-to-back ducks. The silence feels heavier than any stadium roar. Maybe time is what fans refuse to hear – that even gods of the game grow tired. If this is the beginning of the end, let it be remembered: Virat Kohli never gave less than everything.”
‘Kohli should retire after today’s Golden Duck,’ say cricket fans
A few even said that now is the time that he should actually bid goodbye to this format of the game. Kohli has already announced his retirement from T20Is and Tests.
“Virat Kohli should retire after today’s Golden Duck,” said one furious cricket fan.
Another added, “In my opinion, Virat Kohli should retire now. He has achieved everything in Cricket and is the Greatest ODI Batter of All Time. So, it’s better he should retire now.” This fan went on to express that he can’t watch one of his favourite players going for a duck in every match.
The 36-year-old cricketer has returned to “action” after a seven-month break in Perth on October 19. In the first ODI against Australia, his innings lasted just eight balls before Mitchell Starc delivered the killer blow. The ball rose a touch higher than expected, kissed the edge of his bat, and flew straight into the hands of the fielder.
Today, it was Xavier Bartlett who wrote the next painful line in the script. Umpire Sam Ngajski raised his finger, signalling that the King had “fallen” again.
Kohli didn’t waste much time, exchanged a few words with Rohit Sharma, and walked back. The ball tracker confirmed the LBW.
Virat Kohli in ODIs
In the grand theatre of One Day Internationals, Virat Kohli has played 303 matches and 291 innings. He has hit 14,181 runs from his bat, with the highest score being 183. And though there have been 17 ducks, they merely serve as quiet commas in a story otherwise told in exclamation marks.