Driven: The Virat Kohli Story

Vijay Lokapally

Rating 2/5

I am an unabashed fan of Virat Kohli and that is what drove me to pick up this biography of his. A lot of people, including me, would believe that the time is not ripe for an ode to Kohli, however special a talent he may be. And this book does nothing to prove them wrong.

“Driven…” is a product of the book-making industry’s desire of cashing on the immense popularity that Virat enjoys at the moment. The author, Vijay Lokapally, knowing the fickle nature of form and adulation in the game of cricket, perhaps thought it wasn’t advisable to wait for his career to become even a more regaling story.

However, the lack of years in Kohli’s success is not what makes this book rather insufferable. It is the hasty manner in which Lokapally pieces together anecdotes and tales from the very public life of Kohli. It doesn’t help that even a lot of seemingly lesser-known stories of Kohli’s young days have been floating around on social media for some time.

There is no doubt that, like most reasonably successful sportspersons, Kohli’s life has many moments which can be a source of inspiration for everyone. However, the author picks them up and harps on them repeatedly, almost rendering them soporific. The incident involving him coming out in a game right after his father’s death, though extremely touching, is mentioned at least eight times in the book in a desperate bid to rouse emotion in the reader. The writing is rather dull with over two thirds of the text being quotes from people in Kohli’s life — barely a couple of whom can actually boast of knowing Kohli outside the cricket field.

The flow of the book is so preposterous that there were times I thought the pages were torn and bound together in incorrect order. The anecdotes jump back in forth in time with such frequency it makes you work extremely hard to connect the dots. Even in the last chapter, just when the reader thinks this is a final piece on what defines Kohli and what the future holds, the author skips abruptly to an old story recounted by a fellow player and then wallows in nostalgia for nearly two pages before stuttering to a meek finish to the story.

In all, a totally avoidable piece of writing. For the persona, the sportsperson that Kohli is, I sincerely hope that there is someone more capable and carrying much better intent to pen his story when he walks into the sunset.