Open Letter to Virat Kohli: Stop with this arrogance or be prepared to lose your fans!

Dear Virat,

This is not the first time any Indian team has lost an away series and this won't be the first time. Before the series began lot of experts, reporters, fans called this the best team to ever travel to the United Kingdom and I was one of them.

I certainly believed the bowlers we had in the squad were far more confident of their abilities and were capable of winning us matches abroad. They gave us a glimpse of it in South Africa and it was the batsmen who let us down.

This was the case in the Pataudi Trophy too! The bowlers bowled out of their skins and the batsmen let the team down at every opportunity.

Shit happens! Bowlers delivered, batsmen didn't, It's ok. We'll take that, albeit with a pinch of salt.
But what we cannot take is the arrogance with which you have replied to the journalists' questions, time and again.

The team does well, fans, reporters, experts all come and applaud and appreciate the team and when the team doesn't do well, we all deserve the right to critique. What we say, what we speak or what we suggest, you may or may not like or want to implement; that is upto you. But you do not need to get angry and be so defensive about it. Accept the mistakes and move on.

You guys are our idols, heroes and we all look upto you. This is no way to behave. You might think this is fair in 'This is my way of dealing things, I never asked anyone to make me their idol'
No, that won't work. You know how dearly we love our sport and how passionate we are as fans.

If you want us to support you and cheer for you everytime you are down, the way you ask us during Test matches, then you also need to take the criticism and questions with as much aplomb.

This is not the first time you got angry and this might not be the last.

This journalist wasn't intimidated by you and said what a lot of us think. THIS ISN'T THE BEST TEAM IN THE LAST 15 YEARS!

Do not disrespect the Indian teams of the past by giving us such blanket statements. We know who controls the BCCI when it comes to making administrative decisions, when it comes to choosing who the coach should be, who the support staff should be. We let that be. We did not pounce on you for not choosing Anil Kumble and his strict methods. We know you have a certain way of doing things that not many can understand or want. We let you control that. But now you are answerable for the screw ups. You now need to answer us when your techniques did not work. Shying away from it is not the way to deal with it.

It is quite shameful to know that if you type 'Virat Kohli has a disagreement with reporter' there isn't just one video that appears. This has been an on-going problem and as a captain it does not suit you.

Agree, you are not Dhoni. Agree, you are passionate and express yourself on the field.

But there is no dignity in getting angry on reporters when they ask tough questions. It's their job to get you to answer them and get us, the fans, answers to the burning questions.

Enough is enough. Grow up. Be responsible and start taking ownership for your failures or else, be prepared to lose your fans

Thanks,
A cricket-fanatic

Can someone please take a look at the balls please?

Steve Smith, David Warner, Cameron Bancroft have all been penalised for being involved in ball tampering in a Test match in South Africa.

They used sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball and got it to reverse swing very early in the game.

The duo pleaded guilty in a joint press conference after and chaos ensued.

Social media was up in a frenzy and reporters, news channels went in overdrive. Everyone started to form an opinion on what they thought was right.

Steve Smith and David Warner immediately stepped down from captaincy and vice-captaincy posts, respectively and now their future was being discussed.

But not once, not one person has questioned this behaviour. Not one person has asked, why did they need to tamper the ball.

Let me put things in perspective, over the years, a lot of emphasis has been given to the bat, the pitch, the fans, the stadium. But not once did anyone debate about the condition of the ball or the innovation, rather, lack of innovation with the ball.

We have seen mongoose bats, bats with thick edges, stumps with camera, mic, LEDs. Everything in the game has changed but the ball.

The only innovation the ball has seen is the change in colour. From Red leather balls in Tests to white in ODIs and T20s to Pink balls being used for Day and Night matches.

The Captain of Australia, Steve Smith, decided to tamper the ball after speaking to the leadership group since the ball was doing nothing and they were losing the battle.

The new ball swings in helpful conditions for about 15-20 overs. Unless the pitch and outfield is abrasive there will be little or no reverse swing. By the time a new ball is taken in the 80th over, a team is well set and probably looking to attack to counter the swing with the second new ball.

What is one to do?

Not justifying anyone's actions, but all I am trying to say here is, we need to look at what caused them to opt for such a dangerous and risky choice.

Let's focus the energy and rethink on what we need to do to curb such an incident in the future.

Can someone please take a look at the balls please? ;)