Virat Kohli and the art of agelessness

Venus Williams is simply a multiple-time Grand Slam champion, successful singles and doubles. The American boasts 5 Wimbledon and 2 US Open singles titles, to spell with a staggering 14 doubles crowns crossed each 4 Majors, each of them alongside younger Serena.

The siblings person won 3 Olympic Games doubles golden medals, portion Venus is simply a singles golden medallist too, having gone each the mode astatine the Sydney Games successful 2000. But she is nary longer the unit she erstwhile utilized to be, of course.

In 2011, she was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, a chronic systemic autoimmune illness which affects the full assemblage and is mostly characterised by adust eyes, adust mouth, fatigue and associated pain. But emblematic of the spunk and tone that person been the hallmark of a travel which began successful October 1994, she refused to fto it specify her oregon her career.

Legend of longevity

Venus is present 45, has been connected the circuit for astir 32 years, and portion she has intelligibly slowed down, she is showing nary signs of stopping.

Last September, she reached the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles lawsuit astatine the US Open successful the institution of Leylah Fernandez. In a fortnight’s time, she volition enactment up astatine the French Open alongside Hailey Baptiste, a 24-year-old chap American, portion waiting to spot if she volition beryllium awarded a wildcard for the singles competition.

Singles play has progressively gotten unrewarding for the superstar, who has won conscionable 7 matches connected the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour since the opening of 2021 (her grounds is an unflattering 7-32).

Her past Tour triumph came successful July 2025, and she is sitting connected a 10-match losing streak. But for Venus, tennis is nary longer astir conscionable winning oregon losing. It’s what she loves doing the most, hitting balls connected a court, though determination is simply a batch much to Venus Williams than conscionable tennis.

Age is nary barrier

Not dissimilar Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese ace. With a tiny quality — winning inactive means the satellite to the 41-year-old.

Ronaldo has won conscionable astir everything determination is to triumph — Premier League titles, LaLiga crowns, Champions League trophies, the Euro, Nations League and Ballon d’Or. He is present wholly committed to winning a maiden league rubric successful Saudi Arabia, wherever helium has been representing Al Nassr since 2023.

He has scored 26 goals successful 33 Saudi Pro League (SPL) fixtures this play and should wrapper his hands astir different trophy successful a fewer days’ time, though everyone who is adjacent remotely invested successful shot knows that the SPL rubric isn’t his eventual goal.

That is the FIFA World Cup, wherever Portugal person ne'er truthful overmuch arsenic made the finals. Ronaldo is primed for 1 past changeable astatine the astir coveted silverware successful shot erstwhile the World Cup begins successful the Americas adjacent month.

Portugal person the squad to get there; if Ronaldo needs further inspiration (doubtful), helium lone has to deliberation of the different large champion of his generation, Lionel Messi, whose persistence was yet rewarded 4 years agone successful Qatar wherever Argentina defeated France connected penalties.

Messi is 38 but arsenic prolific arsenic ever arsenic helium eyes a 2nd crown; helium was his country’s starring scorer with 8 goals successful the South American World Cup qualifying run and is primed for a sixth quality astatine the sport’s flagship event.

Three champions – 1 45, different 41, the 3rd 38 – pursuing their passionateness and quest of excellence, driven by antithetic ambitions but agreed by commitment.

Among pantheon of greats

Just similar a 37-year-old (significantly younger than each barroom Messi) who knows not what it is to spell slow, who hasn’t heard of the operation ‘take it easy’, who is consumed by his emotion for his athletics and who is the eventual relation exemplary for peers and younger generations alike.

On Wednesday night, Virat Kohli made a sparkling, record-extending ninth IPL ton. Okay, truthful ‘sparkling’ is redundant due to the fact that helium doesn’t marque centuries of immoderate different kind.

No 1 needs immoderate proof, ever, that Kohli is thing but switched on; Wednesday was specified affirmation of the pridefulness successful show that nestles successful his lithe frame. That, and his unwavering tendency to enactment squad supra everything else, nary substance what.

Kohli was coming disconnected a brace of ducks — rarer than hen’s teeth — successful his erstwhile 2 outings, which lasted a expansive full of 3 deliveries. In 1 of those unusual quirks, helium had gone from not courting a nought for 3 years to suffering that indignity doubly successful arsenic galore knocks.

A zero is conscionable that and thing more, nary reflection connected an individual’s quality — Sunil Gavaskar was dismissed disconnected the archetypal shot of a Test 3 times, G.R. Vishwanath’s archetypal Test innings work 0 — but successful a number-driven game, it rankles, nevertheless infrequently it mightiness travel about.

Small wins matter

No 1 was much mindful of the request to get disconnected the people connected Wednesday than Kohli. Not pressure, not reinforcement, but conscionable that earthy impulse to get disconnected the dreaded nought. So, erstwhile helium nudged debutant left-arm pacer Saurabh Dubey for a azygous to mid-wicket disconnected the past shot of the archetypal implicit of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s pursuit against Kolkata Knight Riders, helium ‘celebrated’ the lawsuit with a archetypal pump. How cute.

Kohli was playing to the gallery, of course, knowing that seldom had 1 tally delighted truthful many. He indispensable person been relieved that helium had staved disconnected the hat-trick (of zeroes), but helium hadn’t taken defender conscionable to get disconnected the mark.

There was a lucifer to beryllium won, a occupation to beryllium completed, a people to beryllium chased down. And, arsenic past volition testify, nary 1 is much adept astatine chasing down the people than the right-hander with a machine for a encephalon and with a crippled that tin lone stay an elusive mirage for specified mortals.

It’s nary concealed that Kohli is present lone a one-format planetary (he has been for 12 months) and due to the fact that that format (50-over cricket) isn’t arsenic prevalent arsenic the different two, helium doesn’t person entree to the aforesaid game-time arsenic those progressive successful either Tests oregon T20 Internationals.

That means he, similar Rohit Sharma, his successor arsenic the National captain, indispensable find ways to support himself physically fit, mentally sorted and beryllium connected apical of his crippled batting-wise. Both champions recognize that they are nether greater scrutiny than before, and than the others.

How they person responded is simply a acquisition successful self-motivation and the hunger and subject that lone rests with the genuinely driven.

Kohli is simply a camera-magnet, and helium loves the attention. He is the consummate showman, capable to power connected a dazzling grin and ditch it, each successful the abstraction of a fraction of a second. He loves engaging with the assemblage — connected his presumption — and has been much animated this IPL play than ever before.

Truly 1 of a kind

He celebrates an absorption wicket similar it is his archetypal match, not his trillionth, and helium inactive launches into awe-inspiring stroke-making with a silken interaction and an innate orthodoxy that not adjacent the supposedly unyielding demands of the 20-over crippled person impacted adversely.

He is electrical connected the field, is his worst professional erstwhile determination is that astir intolerable eventuality – a misfield – and runs betwixt the wickets similar helium is inactive trying to marque a sanction and found himself, not similar idiosyncratic with 14,027 T20 runs (he became the fastest to that milestone successful Raipur connected Wednesday) oregon with much than 28,000 (and counting) planetary runs.

Kohli does everything (very, precise well) successful fast-forward mode without adjacent attempting to bash so. He makes the astir hard look ridiculously commonplace and straightforward; possibly his batting should travel with a disclaimer — ‘Performed by an expert, don’t effort this astatine home’.

Even arsenic helium is inactive a pupil who, by his ain admission, learns thing caller each day, helium is besides a elder statesman and a mentor, tags that helium lives up to effortlessly. Indeed, minutes aft his unbeaten 105 muscled the defending champions to the apical of the table, Kohli recovered clip – and the vigor – for an extended one-on-one speech with Angkrish Raghuvanshi, the KKR wicketkeeper-batter who had made a polished half-century earlier.

The young antheral hung connected to each word, knowing the privilege of being privy to the reasoning of idiosyncratic who has been there, done that.

Hungry for more

Like Ronaldo and Messi, Kohli has a wide extremity up of him — the adjacent 50-over World Cup successful astir 17 months’ clip successful the Africas. A twelvemonth and a fractional is simply a agelong clip and truthful overmuch tin happen, but determination is simply a consciousness of certainty that Kohli volition permission nary chromatic unturned if different accidental to trial himself against the champion successful the concern inactive appeals to him.

And remainder assured, helium won’t beryllium determination simply for the ride.