THE MAN WHO WRITES HIS OWN SCRIPTS

"We'll never know"

"A leader in every sense. Can't thank you enough for all that you've done, Skip."

Virat read his teammate's tweet with a small smile on his face. He had barely had any happy moments in the past few months and though he received immense support from his fans, teammates and other players, the negativity was no less.

They have nothing to thank me for, Virat thought.

But anyone who knew Virat, anyone who knew ICT, knew how wrong he was. There was so much Virat Kohli deserved to be thanked for. There was so much he did that went unnoticed. Unappreciated.

"Virat Kohli was unapproachable off the field."

Virat, who went to Siraj's home just for the younger guy's happiness, who laughed and joked around with all the youngsters, was ironically termed unapproachable.

Virat, who shielded his teammates from anything and everything possible was termed the worst captain ever.

"The crowd in Australia can be pretty hostile KL." Virat told his teammate, teasingly during one of his first Australia tours. "Bas warn kar raha hun."

"I have the guy who showed them the middle finger when he was just starting with me." KL laughed. "As long as I have you by my side, nothing's gonna faze me, Skip."

Virat Kohli, who has stood up for Shami when the latter was targeted for his religion without fearing anything.

"You didn't need to do it, Virat." Shami shook his head as he scrolled through the unfiltered hate people were throwing at him and dragging his captain too now.

"Kaisi baat kardi lala. If not me, then who?"

Because if not Virat, who would speak in the support of his teammates so openly?

If not Virat, who will be the bad guy?

If not him, then who?

When Virat was going through the rough patch with the board, he wouldn't deny the support from the team, but most of it was quiet. Hushed. Silent.

It wasn't loud, like Virat's was.

It wasn't openly shared, as Virat's was.

It was scared. It was shaky. It was exactly how Virat's wasn't.

"Tu theek to hai na cheeku?" Vikas asked his little brother when he saw the press conference of him being removed as the ODI captain. Virat had told him about the T20 captaincy but he still wanted to continue in ODI's.

"Yes bhai, what'll happen to me? You're worrying too much, I'm telling you your age is catching up."

"Bhai hun tera, mujhse to mat chupa."

"It's alright bhai. I'm okay, I promise. They couldn't do with two captains for the white ball. It had to happen this way I guess."

But was it truly okay, even Virat Kohli didn't know.

There was no player, atleast of the current times, who was ridiculed as much as Virat was. There was no captain who was treated with so much disrespect from the authorities and fans alike. There was no one whose wins were criticised more than others' loses.

There was no test captain more successful than Virat Kohli.

The passion, the energy, and Virat's refusal to back down was what made the Indian team the best in tests.

"Kohli did a great job but Kohlism needs to be reviewed."

They say it's lonely at the top and Virat had realised it quite early on in his career. Fortunately or unfortunately, he couldn't decide.