Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were not ordinary crickets. These were the symbols of the national path from cautious optimism to bold ambitions, the living embodiment of Indian development from the spirit of Can-to to faith will. They were not just chapters of cricket history – together it was Indian decadal history.
Cricket is for India with metaphor. It reflects our hopes, aspirations, morality and fighting and reflects the corresponding phase of Indian history. This is the magical connection that the story of India can be told through the Criket CVs.
Fighters and ideals for India India were the struggle Lala Amarnath-in poverty, in a state divided by politics and yet the master of his own destiny. Not getting India after 1971 was resistance Sunil Gavascar, a picture without a helmet of courage in the face of a fast and furious world. The emerging trust of 80 was. Hope and ambitions after the liberalization of the 1990s were cautious optimism in Sachin Tendulkar, a young man who eager to taste his size on the world scene. And the brave, bold India from 2010 was the Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rohit and Kohli – three great players who took India and higher with their ambitions and abilities.
Like cricket, Indian cinema often defines the spirit of India, sometimes through random parodies. So, when some smart rhyme-meister mobilized the famous song to claim “Anhoni Ko Honi Kardi, Honi Ko Anhoni, Ek Jagah Jama Ho Teenon, Dhoni, Rohit Aur Kohli,” it wasn’t far from the truth. The trio was indeed a symbol of contemporary Zeitgeist – India, which moved from cautious hope of self -confident success. India capable of anhoni – unimaginable.
Both leaders and doughs, Kohli and Rohit were reflections of changing India. Their captain was a natural development on the continuum of time. Tendulkar, like the cautious middle class 90, was almost apologetic about his ambition and reserved in his brilliance. Dhoni radiated calm confidence in mid -2010, when the Indian economy was constantly growing. Kohli announced the era of aggression in the face, unprofitable reminders of the middle finger of Indian impressive prowess, which began to form around 2013.
These attitudes also formed their batting styles. Kohli was a passionate warrior – he played and competed with the intensity of someone who refused to be defeated. It was a fire itself, often driven by the sometimes consumed, but always ready to sing opponents.
Rohit has always been a carefree artist – he played with a lazy abandonment of a man who enjoyed his natural talent in a bad afternoon. He was air himself, blowing in his cheerful way, sometimes cold zephyr, sometimes even a wild wind, but always swept everything into his way.
Mostly they let their bats speak. But sometimes they let them speak a bat. By owning a stump-mic and a border camera, they both became audiovisual legends: Rohit, older brother with Cass word for every occasion; Kohli, enfant terrible, with a bad finger for prepared confrontation.
Will the test cricket be the same without them? Absolutely not.
Although the cricket is a team game, it is eventually a battle between two individuals – batter and pitch – who decides on the overall competition. Sometimes these individual battles increase than the game itself due to the character of the players and our emotional bond with them.
Over the last decade, we have invested the most among the doughs in Kohl and Rohit. Much more than any other dough in the era of breath, their individual stories of triumph and failure have become key partial fences. These narratives formed a larger story of the game.
When Kohli fought off the stump, we prayed to succeed, to resurrect even though the game has already been lost. When Rohit forgot to play those brave, without shifts upstairsWe prayed for him to avert the clock. In the hope of their redemption, we tested our faith in miracles, fought against human fragility and fate, so the test cricket was much greater than sport.
With their retirement, at least for some time, the test cricket will be a spectacle without a soul, a bland story without a riveting partial fence, a roller coaster without joy or pain.
Because Kohl and Rohit were not just crickets, they were cricket itself.
Sandipan Sharma, our guest author, likes to write about cricket, cinema, music and politics. They believe they are connected.
Published:
Debodinna Chakracorty
Published on:
13 May 2025
Tune
