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Pakistan's obsession with Virat Kohli

hoshiarpurexpress

hoshiarpurexpress

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Pakistani cricketers, past and present, seem fixated on Virat Kohli. Every Pakistani YouTuber name-drops him or displays his photo in the background, while active players frequently mention him.

I recall an episode of Hasna Mana Hai where the anchor asked Haris Rauf about Kohli's iconic MCG six, and Rauf graciously acknowledged Kohli's exceptional skill.

When did Pakistan's cricket culture become so deferential?

I reminisce about Shoaib Akhtar's boldness in 1999, claiming he didn't know Sachin Tendulkar. Whatever happened to that unbridled passion (janoon) and fearlessness (daleri)?
 
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Giving the title of King to babar was peak cringe. Anything Kohli or India gets more views and engagement. You can observe in this forum too.
 
To attract Indian viewers, who have a bigger population and help generate more views and money.
 
It's because they can relate more towards kohli. He has been very compassionate with PCT unlike other current crop.
 
You are completely right. The whole cricketing fraternity in Pakistan is obsessed with Kohli. It's one thing for example players to mention him but another for active players to be such Kohli fanatics.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
You are completely right. The whole cricketing fraternity in Pakistan is obsessed with Kohli. It's one thing for example players to mention him but another for active players to be such Kohli fanatics.
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he is a good player.

I remember growing up, Pakistan used to be obsessed with Rickey Ponting.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
You are completely right. The whole cricketing fraternity in Pakistan is obsessed with Kohli. It's one thing for example players to mention him but another for active players to be such Kohli fanatics.
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yeah this is my actual point. During T20 WC 2024.. all panel discussions in Pakistan were about Kohli and discussing his form.
It was all about him to be honest. It felt like watching an Indian show. Umar Akmal and Shehzad also speaking at length about him. Akmal telling some fake stories like how manager of Indian team in 2012 asked Dhoni to drop Virat in front of Akmal at dinner table sitting together, and how Dhoni Responded that he also will not play next match to the face manager.
Umar Akmal said he also wanted such kind of backing for himself.. lol. I mean they are just obsessed with him.
I miss the days of Akhtar/Waqar/Wasim who were dismissive of India's batting and had an attitude/aura about them.
 
hoshiarpurexpress said:
yeah this is my actual point. During T20 WC 2024.. all panel discussions in Pakistan were about Kohli and discussing his form.
It was all about him to be honest. It felt like watching an Indian show. Umar Akmal and Shehzad also speaking at length about him. Akmal telling some fake stories like how manager of Indian team in 2012 asked Dhoni to drop Virat in front of Akmal at dinner table sitting together, and how Dhoni Responded that he also will not play next match to the face manager.
Umar Akmal said he also wanted such kind of backing for himself.. lol. I mean they are just obsessed with him.
I miss the days of Akhtar/Waqar/Wasim who were dismissive of India's batting and had an attitude/aura about them.
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No player from India has smashed Pakistan like Kohli and many are in awe of him. I can say for a fact no Pakistani wanted to be Sachin but every kid and youngster wants to be Kohli.

People here are saying it's to do with views but it actually goes beyond it. There is a genuine obsession with him unlike with other Indian players.

When it comes to current players Akmal and Ahmed aren't the smartest knives in the drawer so we can maybe excuse them but you have players like Mohammed Amir and Imad Wasim making weird tweets about him too. One time Amir tagged Kohli with a picture of a character from Ertugrual saying it reminded him of Virat.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
No player from India has smashed Pakistan like Kohli and many are in awe of him. I can say for a fact no Pakistani wanted to be Sachin but every kid and youngster wants to be Kohli.
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Sehwag and Dhoni beg to differ.
 
hoshiarpurexpress said:
Pakistani cricketers, past and present, seem fixated on Virat Kohli. Every Pakistani YouTuber name-drops him or displays his photo in the background, while active players frequently mention him.

I recall an episode of Hasna Mana Hai where the anchor asked Haris Rauf about Kohli's iconic MCG six, and Rauf graciously acknowledged Kohli's exceptional skill.

When did Pakistan's cricket culture become so deferential?

I reminisce about Shoaib Akhtar's boldness in 1999, claiming he didn't know Sachin Tendulkar. Whatever happened to that unbridled passion (janoon) and fearlessness (daleri)?
Click to expand...
Pakistani fast bowlers of the day could back that attitude up with some unpredictable reverse swing that happened out of nowhere.

The likes of Rauf can't :D. hence the submissive attitude
 
Since you guys gave Babar Azam ‘King’ sobriquet, the obsession & comparison has grown from bad to worse. Couldn’t you have come up with something better than ‘Bobsy the King’… Badshah Babar had a nice ring to it!

On a serious note though, the constant comparison to India and particularly to Kohli is indeed very irritating.
 
hoshiarpurexpress said:
In his playing days he would have tried to knock Kohli's head off and abuse him in the most Punjabiest abuses..
I know Kohli would not have backed down so it would have been a fascinating battle.
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Would have been fun watching them against each other in Tests. Kohli might have pushed Shoaib's bowling average of 35 and SR of 62 against India to a bowling average of 40 and an SR of 70.
 
Social media is all about views.
Kohli is a great iconic player and also has largest online following of any global cricketer.

Mentioning him whether in positive sense, negative sense or even in passing and putting hashtag or clickbait thumbnail drives more traffic to the video
 
hoshiarpurexpress said:
Pakistani cricketers, past and present, seem fixated on Virat Kohli. Every Pakistani YouTuber name-drops him or displays his photo in the background, while active players frequently mention him.

I recall an episode of Hasna Mana Hai where the anchor asked Haris Rauf about Kohli's iconic MCG six, and Rauf graciously acknowledged Kohli's exceptional skill.

When did Pakistan's cricket culture become so deferential?

I reminisce about Shoaib Akhtar's boldness in 1999, claiming he didn't know Sachin Tendulkar. Whatever happened to that unbridled passion (janoon) and fearlessness (daleri)?
Click to expand...

If Kohli were to put out one tweet now in support of Bobby ... that would fast track his return 🤣
 
uppercut said:
If Kohli were to put out one tweet now in support of Bobby ... that would fast track his return 🤣
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Kohli should do it for them
 
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Haris Rauf's response perfectly encapsulates the mindset of many current Pak players. It seems like they do not highly value the Pakistan cap. They are also seen participating in leagues with discarded players and associate players. They are content to simply share the field alongside top tier cricketers. Wearing the Pakistan jersey does not hold much pride for many of current Pak players.
 
There’s nothing wrong with appreciating greatness. If anything this has been a sign of position the Pakistan community in the last decade or so. Not just about Kohli, but in the way a modern Pakistani can rationally acknowledge and appreciate all the good things in Bharat shows you they’ve come a long way in maturity despite decades of propaganda
 
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pratiktc said:
Social media is all about views.
Kohli is a great iconic player and also has largest online following of any global cricketer.

Mentioning him whether in positive sense, negative sense or even in passing and putting hashtag or clickbait thumbnail drives more traffic to the video
Click to expand...
I have to wonder - who's the next face of Indian cricket after Kohli?

Sachin wasn't perfect in terms of presence and personality but his sheer ability and our need for a hero created a media giant out of him.
Dhoni and Kohli after him took to it like ducks to water - great communicators, personalities and naturals in front of the camera.

The hungry media machine will demand the next idol. I wonder who will step up. It can't just be performance (though that's mandatory...you have to have that aura.
 
JaDed said:
Maybe coz he looks like them whereas Sachin Sehwag didn’t
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May be the Punjabi connection.. But still the ex-cricketers and all TV sports journalists behave the same way. Weird name dropping of him on every occassion.
 
Babar Azam to be honest is not as good as Rahane leave alone Kohli. He is just a batsman who goes on about playing his game without any method or end goal. Has great technique and looks elegant but there are so many other qualities that make a great player. Look at Younis Khan. One of the most boring batsmen ever kind of like Pujara but he played the game with a purpose. You knew he was aware of the match situation.

only batsmen who has a method to his madness in Pak team is Rizwan. Rest all go about their business in a one dimensional way. Either tuk tuk or hack hack.
 
Ahmed SHezad started this? lol Nots ure. he was wearing similar beard. He copied everything Kohli did except batting.
 
If you want to talk about obsession, the question is why are Indians obsessed with Pakistanis?

A random Pakistani will start talking about cricket on YouTube and the whole Indian nation will swarm their channel.

Youtubers/SM people will talk about whatever makes them money, since for most, it's their job. Whether it's Indian, Australia, or Uganda, whatever brings in big buck they'll talk about it. But the obsession of Indians is truly next level.

Particularly when India does well or Pakistan does poorly, which is very often these days, the Indians will run, like kids running after candy, to watch those videos, generating 100,000s/millions of views. The word obsession falls short for the Indians.
 
Successful men almost attract followers. Virat Kohli is textbook example of an alpha male - good looking, polished, strong personality, uber successful in his craft , plus a gorgeous wife & lovely kids - such traits will always attract attention whether in India or Pakistan

I think its also a reflection of lack of such characters in Pakistan. No way Kohli wud have such fan following in Pakistan if someone like Imran Khan or Wasim Akram was still paying for them

In short Kohli is the kind of character that a Babar , Fakhar, Ahmed Shahzad , Amir, Shaheen wud have loved to be in their real lives. Which is not necessarily a bad thing
 
Darkrai said:
If you want to talk about obsession, the question is why are Indians obsessed with Pakistanis?

A random Pakistani will start talking about cricket on YouTube and the whole Indian nation will swarm their channel.

Youtubers/SM people will talk about whatever makes them money, since for most, it's their job. Whether it's Indian, Australia, or Uganda, whatever brings in big buck they'll talk about it. But the obsession of Indians is truly next level.

Particularly when India does well or Pakistan does poorly, which is very often these days, the Indians will run, like kids running after candy, to watch those videos, generating 100,000s/millions of views. The word obsession falls short for the Indians.
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It’s just not random YouTubers doing this, even your cricketers are constantly referring to Kohli - his fitness, work ethic, aggression, records and now even his slump 🤷🏻‍
 
They are obsessed bcos they have nobody as good as Kohli currently, not even close. And also bcos of the number of times Kohli has performed against them in WC games and also bcos of " this too shall pass " :D
 
deltexas said:
They are obsessed bcos they have nobody as good as Kohli currently, not even close. And also bcos of the number of times Kohli has performed against them in WC games and also bcos of " this too shall pass " :D
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That awkward moment for Bobby ... waiting feverishly for Kohli to reciprocate that tweet ... Bobby's fav song right now must be this: Intihaan ho gayi intezaar ki ... aayi na woh khabar mere yaar ki ... :ROFLMAO:
 
He might have more fans in terms of percentage in Pak compared to India as well. It could be multiple things, punjabi/ aggression/ star power and performances against pak. Its mostly teens and youth who adore him in pak.

If ICC do travel to pak for ct 2025, he might get the biggest reception.
 
Red-Indian said:
I have to wonder - who's the next face of Indian cricket after Kohli?

Sachin wasn't perfect in terms of presence and personality but his sheer ability and our need for a hero created a media giant out of him.
Dhoni and Kohli after him took to it like ducks to water - great communicators, personalities and naturals in front of the camera.

The hungry media machine will demand the next idol. I wonder who will step up. It can't just be performance (though that's mandatory...you have to have that aura.
Click to expand...
Gill, jaiswal, pant, pandya
 
uppercut said:
That awkward moment for Bobby ... waiting feverishly for Kohli to reciprocate that tweet ... Bobby's fav song right now must be this: Intihaan ho gayi intezaar ki ... aayi na woh khabar mere yaar ki ... :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

Babar to this day probably has no idea about that tweet and all the English words that went to it.
 
He has a lot of fans in Pakistan.

I have a feeling he would be stunned at the reception if he ever played in Pakistan.

It probably is due to his style of cricket, performances against Pakistan, and the general aura around him in his prime. No other Indian cricketer really matches what he has to offer and the respect is well deserved.
 
AamchiMumbaikar said:
Gill, jaiswal, pant, pandya
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Pant's frontrunner I think. Has the personality and presence. He was pretty omnipresent with his ads in the world cup.

Pandya's got too much baggage and is past 30 anyway.

Gill and Jaiswal have a chance but have to get that combination of performance and personality going.

Whoever makes it is going to really rake in the big money over the next 7-8 years. There's a huge earnings premium associated with being the face of Indian cricket.
 
Kohli is a great player and a great player should be praised. For me, it is not obsession but respect and he is the perfect benchmark for a comparison.
 
I actually don't believe he has a huge fan base. I think it's mostly disingenuous. The great kohli is also the only Indian kaptaan to lose to Pakistan in world cup event. Yes t20 is a world a cup event and now as important as odi world cups.

I dont really believe pakistani fans deep down actually like him or rate him. The 2017 loss also happened under the great kohli. Yea he won many times vs pakistan. I am aware of that too.

They just overrate kohli cause they actually hold a few wins over his team when he was captain. If they make him appear better than he is then pakistan axiomatically would appear elite as well.
 
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