Kohli, 36, fights an age-old battle: Talent v time

This is an old story. A story about talent, longevity and defiance. A story about how, for all the shining confidence of champions, time humbles them all. A story which starts by clarifying an untruth.

- Rohit Brijnath Assistant Sports Editor

India's Virat Kohli (near left), 36, celebrating with his old pal Rohit Sharma, 38, during the third one-day international with Australia in Sydney on Oct 25. PHOTO: AFP

(AFP)

Age is not just a number.

That’s just a glib, throwaway line. Age is, in fact, an inescapable truth in sport, it’s slowing reflexes, diminishing elasticity, reduced muscle mass, until the ticktock becomes deafening. Athletes eat smarter, stretch longer, sleep better, but age is going to win. That’s the only guarantee. And yet it’s this very battle to stay relevant which remains raw and revealing.

Just ask Novak Djokovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James. And Virat Kohli.

In Australia, on Oct 19, Kohli is out for zero in his first cricket one-day international since March. A zero is part of cricketing life, it’s frustrating and insulting, but it happens.

Yet not all zeroes are the same.

Kohli plays only one-day cricket for India now, which means he has fewer chances to shine, and so the zero has a different weight. Furthermore, he’s going to be 37 on Nov 5 and this ensures the zero leaves a deeper bruise. At 26, the zero is a blip, at 36 it’s cause for last rites.