I’ll be gone, you won't see me for a while: Kohli’s words

During the final five or six years of his career, Sachin Tendulkar was frequently surrounded by talk of retirement. His age was more important than his abilities or level of fitness. Although it is probably a little more widespread in Indian cricket, this is not unheard of in the life of a professional athlete. Tendulkar wasn’t the first, and he won’t be the last either. Look into it with Virat Kohli.

There are no indications that Kohli will slow down. Even his harshest critic would not dare to cast doubt on his physical condition given that he is well over the skinny patch that gave his naysayers a voice a few years ago, but you can still see the undercurrent whenever Kohli takes the stage.

How long can he continue? How long can those scores continue to come in steadily? Does he still crave runs? Forms change, but the questions’ underlying meaning stays the same. And Kohli knows this as well as Tendulkar or any other elite athlete.

Time and again, he allows his expressive side to take charge and reassure everyone that he is far from over. However, he is not insane enough to ignore the existence of the horizon.

"I wanna give it everything I have till the time I play, and that's the only thing that keeps me going" 🤌

Virat's emotional but promising words while talking at the @qatarairways Royal Gala Dinner. 🗣️#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/htDczGQpNf
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) May 15, 2024

“Our careers as athletes do have an expiration date. “I’m simply going backwards,” Kohli remarked at an RCB function.

“I don’t want to end my career with unfinished business,” said Virat Kohli.

Is this ending soon? Yes, it is. Has Kohli established a deadline for it yet? No. For now, all he knows is that he will not look back on his career as a cricket player when he decides to hang up the bat. That is also known to everyone else. There is no such word as “half-hearted” in Kohli’s lexicon. Either he is fully committed or he simply isn’t there.

“I don’t want to look back on my career and wonder what could have been done that day. I have a limited amount of time to continue. Kohli grinned and added, “It’s just about not leaving any unfinished business behind and not having any regrets later, which I’m very sure I won’t have.” His words were sufficient.

“Once I’m done, I’ll be gone,” he promised the fans one last time. The only thing that keeps me going is to give it my all until I play since you won’t see me for a while,” Kohli remarked.

It’s difficult to picture Kohli out of the spotlight. Lying low is not even an option because of how powerful he is. However, it could simply be Kohli the cricket player. As he stated, the more subdued side of himself might take center stage when he ultimately decides to bid the game farewell.

The fans of Indian cricket believe that the latter that Kohli makes an appearance, the better. The work on the existing Kohli is far from finished. The greatest evidence came in the IPL 2024, when 661 runs at an average of 66 were scored with a strike rate of 155. However, is Kohli really required to prove anything to anyone? Alternatively, perhaps he does it to himself each time he goes to the field. For the fans, seeing one of the greatest players of all time go about his business is, has been, and will continue to be a pleasure.