“Do today’s kids know the ups and downs he has seen?” – Basit Ali on Virat Kohli completing 16 years in international cricket

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali feels the current generation should know the ups and downs Virat Kohli has seen in his career after he recently completed 16 years in his international career. Virat Kohli went through a lull period for almost two years when he failed to score a century across all three formats.

Kohli admitted how one reacts to the tough phases, showing the character of that particular man, not only in sports but also in life. The talisman was finally able to end his drought of runs when he scored a T20I century in the Asia Cup against Afghanistan. 

Similarly, Kohli could not perform consistently in the first seven matches of the T20 World Cup 2024. However, come the big stage of the final, Kohli scored a match-winning knock of 76 runs off 59 balls against South Africa in Barbados.

Basit Ali said Kohli does a lot of hard work behind the scenes to reap the rewards at the top level.

Ali said on his YouTube Channel, “The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Younis Khan, and Javed Miandad had very long careers, and they spent top-quality time with their hard work. It is very easy to say that Virat Kohli has played for 16 years now. But do today’s kids know the ups and downs he has seen? Do they know how early he wakes up to train in the gym on a match day? Similarly, Sachin Tendulkar was so much in love with cricket that he slept with a bat by his side. We have heard such stories but the youngsters haven’t implemented these things.”

Ali reckons the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Riyan Parag are lucky to be playing alongside veterans like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

“Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Riyan Parag, and Yashasvi Jaiswal are very lucky to be playing with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. If they still don’t learn from them, all I can do is give them a salute. They should be constantly asking questions to Kohli and Sharma. Just sit with them and ask them to guide you.”

The former Pakistan batter added that Kohli gives his all in the field and plays with a lot of passion.

“Just look at his dedication and the hard work he puts in. Even if he gets out early, he gives it all in the field. You can feel that Kohli is on the ground just by the noise the crowd makes when the ball goes to him. This is the result of the hard work he has put in for 16 years.”

Kohli will be in action in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh.