Captain - The earliest memory I have of you is of 2008. You were a brash 19 year old new kid on the block - had just come back from the success of U-19 WC in Malaysia. I was in my class 9th then.
Fast forward a couple of months - you were smashing SL bowlers all over the park. That trademark CD on anything pitched on the 4th-5th stump line was music to the ears and a painting to the eyes. That's when I realised - we finally found a guy, who is a culmination of 'Miandad and Steve Waugh.'
I also remember one of the IPL games - where you smashed Murli for sixes at will. I was an elated man - simply wow, shuffling across the stumps and depositing it where ever you wanted.
Then came the first game of the WC '11 - such confidence exuding from a player who was playing his first WC game. The 24 in the QF against Australia was one of the better innings you played during that WC in a must-win situation. But one image of yours which has never left my memory is when you hoisted Sachin on your shoulders - I cried tears that night imagining that the baton has been passed.
You went to Australia(2011/12) - you were called names, abused and belittled. But you redeemed yourself with a classy century that winter and then went on to whack SL in one of the limited-over games. That brand of cricket was unbeknownst, back in the day.
Then came that game against Pakistan where you scored 183 - ohh wow. I still remember that Asia Cup not for Sachin's 100th century but for your chasing skills.
Then came exploits of Australia in (2014/15) - wow man, I was in my 3rd year of engineering in Banaras - watched those games, cried tears of joy. Such class. Such composure in the midst of extreme pressure. Century in each innings was something different. We lost the games though - but close we were! Had you not gotten caught in the deep - we would have made it. I cried that day too.
Captain - a hopeless cricket fan which I am, I have been disappointed whenever we have had big games. And I understand a little bit of cricket.
There are 4 or 5 instances - when dinner was not an option after the game. Even the next morning feels weird. Today is one of those mornings again.
Captain - you have to understand that I am not a troll. I am just a unrequited cricket fan. You guys got to love me/us back - that is something which has not been happening.
I am going to dispense some unsolicited advice to you - take it or leave it, your call.
Specific Advice
KL Rahul doesn't have guts, balls and wherewithal to play at that level. Why do you cast him in the team? All the cricket pundits are wrong - I am telling you. You know Murphy's law right? He has made us cry in the past and he will keep doing that in the future. That guy is good for low pressure games or IPL - but not for cricket at the highest level. I give zero fucks about his talent or skill.
HP - You tell me, when was the last time, he won a big game.? One I remember is the Test in England. But wasn't he simply lucky there - getting 5 scalps? He is at best - a franchise player.
Bhuvi - His golden days are behind him. Look at the likes of Nagarkoti, Avesh Khan etc.
Jaddu - I think you are too hard on him. Rather the management is too hard on him - why can't you make a Razzaq out of him. Give him freedom and a certificate to hit it all over the park. Do you realise why we lost the final of WTC? He didn't have freedom to hit it - you please let him do what he does best, that's how he thrives!
General Advice
All these IPL hotshots think that they can manufacture shots at will and all the grounds/stages in the world are like Chinnaswamy. They can possibly not clear boundaries in the UAE or MCG or elsewhere.
Don't take any player in the team - who can't play through the line. Wtf can't these blokes play shots with a straight bat - at least early in the innings!
I know Vikram - the batting coach, must be doing a great job but these batters get paid much more than him and discount him or his suggestions. Bloody bring them to the ground. Make them play with a wet taped ball on concrete - and the only shot allowed to them should be playing in the line. I suggest get someone like a Darren Sammy - he is a master of playing through the line with the straightest bat.
Accept that you are not a Dhoni. Long leash works for a captain like MS not for you. Your cricket is firebrand - let the folks in the team know that permanence is not on offer. They are replaceble.
Hone folks like Washi, Rishabh, Shardul, SKY, Ishan etc - who have this Shoaib Akhtar/Miandad/Steve Waugh/Ben Stokes vibe in them. Not the ones who have a lot of talent - talent is useless when you are an ostrich in the open.
Please don't make inner circles within the team - from the outside it looks as if you are bigger person to the tracer bullet guy. See, you don't respect the person(s), you respect the rank(s), Captain.
Lastly, you are the most influential person after the Prime Minister of the nation - when you speak, we hear. We love the way you speak your heart - but running a cricket team is an autocracy not a bloody democracy. Run it like that. We have always accepted losses where we lost after trying - but not where you don't even fight. See I am entrepreneur and like you, everyday I am in front of a jury - you are too, brother. I miss the Kohli of 2008 and 2014/15. This Virat is not the guy who I had imagined would take tha baton forward.
Closure
It is not that I am being harsh here just for the sake of being harsh. I will cheer for you in the next game too, and in the game after that, and in the game after that. We have been bleeding blue for as long as I can remember.
But folks in the team gotta love us back.
I know it is easy to criticise - some will argue - but I don't care for the runs, blokes score in a bilateral game/IPL which people watch and fill the coffers of BCCI and the likes of Dream11.
You win us games/show what you are made of - in the games which matter.
This is my only ask, Captain.
Cheers,
Osho a hopeless fan