A brace of ‘Nostramadus’ — not Nostradamus — predictions that had evaded the radar of most scholars, or specialists, has just been revealed. They detail, with veiled dexterity, certain effusive ‘gems,’ that were lost in antiquity, while presaging the classy virtuosity of contemporary cricket’s most exciting batting machine. Here’s one such maxim: “Up from the North/Therefrom, will arrive a fella/What he’ll have in his magic hands is a tow-coloured willow/A simple wooden blade with a patch of strange alphabets on it/A club that launches a thousand endorsements/This super-fit youth will be a hard nut to crack/He sends the red, white, or coloured cherry whizzing to a patch of land/Beyond the ropes/No other human can dictate terms to him when he’s in the zone/And, when he is out of sorts/Or, the rarest of rare lean trots, which is part and parcel of every great batsman in any era, or epoch/Everybody’s upset.”

 

 

So, there it is — the best there is to the ‘prophetic’ scrolls. Picture this. You know his identity. Yes, he’s none other than Virat ‘King’ Kohli — the run-machine that eloquently ‘carries’ India’s batting arsenal, and hope, in Tests, one-day and T20 cricket. This is present-perfect. It is also the foundational principle of it. ‘Nostramadus’ goes, yet again, into the cosiness of his crystal analysis. He adds: “This human battleship will run from one end of three sticks/To another end of three twigs — like a hare/He’ll razzle and dazzle eleven-like-him folks/Most times he gets the better of them/Sometimes, or occasionally, or infrequently, they get the better of him.” In another subtext, ‘Nostramadus’ interprets a supplemental aphorism: “This power-house is oft overloaded/He gets far too keyed up doing his job/Not to speak of facing a portrait-tool which captures his image/From inside of a box and on sheets of papyrus with ink and colour/Or, on the ‘Net aka the World Wide Web showcase/He will think that enough is enough/He takes to hitting the cherry in a different way each time/On home grounds and also far away/Accruing more runs for himself and his team.”

 

 

Put simply, Kohli, as one specialist explained, will propel more and more initiatives to amassing runs by the heap, and not merely scoring them in tons. Yet another illegible couplet, also lost in antiquity, reveals that the ‘King’ in shining armour, will expand India’s overseas record — not just advertisements — while thumping the bowlers all over the place.

 

 

There’s yet another possibility — as one scholar studying the scrolls ‘placed’ it — that Kohli may also take it upon himself to reaching a summit that no cricketer, except Sir Don Bradman, has ever achieved. It all boils down to a simple equation — that Kohli, with his God-gifted talent, as another overseas crystal-gazer, who happened to study the prophesies observed, may be the President of India, or the UN Secretary-General, when he’s in his early-fifties — a popular choice — just like how he was so impeccable, on and off the field. The endorsements, he adds, would doubtless multiply before he occupies the hallowed office. Like it, you will, because, it is a privilege of being loyal to (y)our hero, come what may. Maybe, you’d believe every word of it. You better do. Because, when you hark back after several moons, you’ll ‘torrent’ us with bouquets for having prophesied tomorrow’s Virat Kohli’s news, much before anyone else today.