Anyone who was born and grew up in the 90s or the 2000s remembers watching The Lion’s King: Timon & Pumbaa at some point in their childhood.
A Meerkat and Warthog who follow the philosophy of “Hakuna Matata” living their life in the Sahara while tackling funny shenanigans like that one guy named Quint or a superhero Snail or an annoyed Tucan named Zazu.
Ironically, when you look at the duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma there are a lot of similar vibes that one would get. Timon is a rather energetic character with all kinds of funny schemes and an unhinged attitude that never fails to entertain or get a chuckle out of the audience which happens to be something similar to what Virat Kohli seems to be especially while fielding.
Rohit, on the other hand, is the easygoing and uncharacteristically unfazed who often does not even remember what he is trying to say, referring to things as “yeh”(this) and “woh”(that) including the rather topsy-turvy nature of international cricket where a lot of situations seem to bring the rather light-hearted and easygoing attitude of Rohit may it be asking Sarfaraz Khan not to show off while fielding at silly point or asking two certain youngsters to “not have a stroll in the garden.”
The funny thing is, the same attitude is reflected in Rohit’s batting where he always seems at a certain amount of zen, looking rather stable and casual even when pulling off some tough shots.
Meanwhile, Virat loves to indulge himself in the world with a very Timon-ic approach to life. May it be taking on the Quints, Zazus, or Rafikis of the cricketing world in rather tense (and sometimes funny) scuffles on the field, not afraid to be a little erratic yet being endearing at the same time but his cricketing attitude also reflects the same. Not afraid to be unorthodox, try things, and make things work his own way while batting.
Maybe this is what has made them work over the period of the last 15 years. A combination of an energetic and carefree character brings the fans many adventurous innings and happy moments just like Timon and Pumbaa used to with their shenanigans.
They might not be interested in finding and eating bugs, or annoying Quint, Zazu, or Rafiki but they sure know how to take on the opposition and That’s Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for you.
About the Author: Aman Patel, A long-term viewer and student of the game. Specialises in cricket from the 2000s.
