inspired by recent events and that riyan parag tweet, was made to think how cruel sport can be at times, decided to do a thread of virat kohli and how many times he has failed, and what a mental fortitude he possesses

1st- kohli was already in the team 6 months after the

u19 world cup in 2008, he was told by the team that he would play the last 2 matches of the england tour, this was virat waiting, for his chance, his dream to come true, the boy was finally going to make it in his head

alas, the last 2 matches of the tour were cancelled because

of mumbai attacks, kohli talks about this period of his life and terms it depressing and says he was very low at that point, he missed out on his dream without any fault of his own or anyone else, just sheer rotten luck, something that we now know is a thing that he can't escape

he was then dropped from the next series. gut wrenching, there were rumours about this being due to off the field activities and his care free nature which angered him a lot, you can feel how he comes across here

2012 WT20
India's finest batsman that tournament, and a member of the wt20 overall best 11, all effort went in vain as virat carried a dull indian side only to see them crash out at the super 8 stage, experienced first hand embarassment and pain of ICC tournaments

2014 WT20
another tournament where he was MOTT, being in stellar form throught, single-handedly carrying India to the final and then putting on a fine show in the final without any help from the other end, india went on to lose sri lanka, pain. dukh. dard.

2014 Adelaide - 141
Kohli played a then career best 141 in a 4th innings one of the finest cricket innings on captaincy debut as a stand in, where india started playing a fearless brand of cricket under kohli, never thinking about a draw, just going all out, all in

doing whatever it takes, a historic 4th innings chase was looking possible till that pull shot off lyon, kohli out caught at square leg.
India lost 8 wickets in the final session and virat was just left thinking about that shot he played and what could've been, heartbreak.

2015 world cup semi final
he would get out pulling Johnson, his long time nemesis, it would be the only time he got out to Johnson in ODI cricket.

2016 wt20
Kohli plays a stunning 82 against who else but australia to send India to the semis almost exactly a year after that, india look all set to lift the trophy at home, now labelled the favourites, they march on to wankhede to take on windies

india lose the semi final at home.
kohli scores an 89* but it isn't enough as india's weak bowling is exposed and west indies chase down 192 with ease, kohli would now have 2 wt20 Mott but not a wt20 trophy, a repeat of 2014 only more heartbreaking this time

2016 IPL
973 runs, 4 centuries in a single IPL, a 50 in the final but not enough, RCB lose the IPL final under kohli after being probably the best team of the tournament, success in the IPL would be something that would escape him forever

2017 CT final
india under kohli's captaincy reach an ICC final, against pakistan, one match for the history books.
kohli fails India lose, questions about captaincy obviously arise, spat with then coach kumble comes to a boiling point, the whole country is after only one man

2018 away test cycle
it would be take too much out of me to write this but I would sum up this by the holy trinity 149, 153, 123(India lost all 3)
India's best test team in recent times, went on to prove themselves away from home, they fought with rigour... but...

just wasn't enough India lost the tour in england and SA- simply because no one could bat apart from kohli, the score line was harsh, but it was what it was, another year which could've been perfect turned into a blot, his finest knocks received no help from the other end

2019 world cup
after an unbelievable 2018 in ODIs, India and kohli are ready to go england and our captain dreams of becoming the 2nd Indian after Kapil Dev to lift the world cup at lord's, the dream lasted till 10 July 2019 - the torment at old trafford

india collapse 5-3 losing 3 of their best batsmen chasing a simple target of 240, the fight from their middle order wouldn't be enough as India, heavy favourites crash out, and news about a rift between teammate rohit sharma and him hits the news, indians thirsty for blood

want someone to put a blame on, and of course again it is kohli, again there are talks about changing captains, split captaincy and what not inspite of India topping the group stage after playing all teams and being the best team of the tournament

Adelaide test 2020
after a slump and a long time without a 100, kohli leads India to the pink ball test in adelaide, he grinds and toils and plays one of his finest knocks as he is on 74 and looking all set to get that 100 on his favourite hunting ground as all hell ensues

he is left high and dry by his partner on the other end and is run out, india can't take the weight of the wicket and collapse, a fine boring bowling effort gives India the lead and what happens next was close to a natural calamity

india are all out for 36, they lose the test match, first time kohli has lost a test after winning the toss, a freak incident and a record low for india, the knives are out again, but there is some compensation as India win a historic series 2-1 but in the absence of virat

yes even someone as legendary as kohli has failed, he has failed a lot and has had shortcomings and regrets, but he always got back up, took it on the chin and went through it all with a smile, sport is cruel, where even the possibility of losing is a sin but an inevitability

you always got back up skip, I know you don't owe us anything, but is it too much to ask for you to do it again one more time? just one more time