rewrite this title Virat Kohli Will Always Be India’s Icon, What’s the Fuss About His London Move?

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IndiaIndia’s defeat during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy still pains many cricket fans in the country.

Many reasons have been given for this major defeat, the first Test series defeat at the hands of Australia in over a decade. One of the main reasons for this heavy defeat was the poor form of the two main batsmen in the line-up – the captain Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli.

While Sharma struggled throughout, Kohli started well and then slowed down.

And as Kohli’s runs waned, came an interview with his childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma in Delhi. The purpose of the interview was reportedly to talk about Kohli’s famous struggles outside the off-stump. But as the interview progressed, the coach revealed that his one-time protégé, Kohli, is moving to London permanently.

Timeline of Virat Kohli’s move

Now this has been the best-kept secret in Indian cricket for the last 12 months. Kohli has probably toured England more than his good friend and former England captain Kevin Pietersen.

It first came to light in late 2023 when Kohli arrived late for the Test series in South Africa. He was delayed in coming due to some personal work in London. There was a lot of speculation at that time, but nothing significant came out of it.

Then in early 2024, when England sought a Test series in India, Kohli was named in the squad for the first few matches. But suddenly Kohli again decided to opt out of the first few Tests due to personal reasons. As the series progressed, Kohli completely retreated. Then, Kohli went to the United Kingdom to live with his wife Anushka and daughter. They were then awaiting the birth of their second child, son Akay.

Therefore, there has been speculation in Indian cricket circles for some time that Kohli will be moving to London. This, while he comes to play for India when required and of course also appears for his beloved Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Changing base of Indian cricketers is nothing new

This may seem like a strange move for an Indian cricketer, but it is not entirely new. We have many cricketers from India who have moved out of the country.

In the 1970s, India’s flamboyant former wicket-keeper batsman Farooq Engineer moved to Manchester. Engineer had been playing for Manchester-based English county team Lancashire for over a decade. After finishing playing for India in 1975, Engineer moved from his beloved Mumbai to Manchester.

In the early 1980s, we had another former India cricketer, Dilip Doshi, who was a regular in the English county circuit, also living there. Then as the years passed, we got people like former India captain Sunil Gavaskar who became non-resident Indians (NRIs) living in Dubai. Another former India captain and former head coach Ravi Shastri also became an NRI, also having his base in Dubai.

The point is that this incident is not unheard of. In recent years, we have also had other former cricketers like Robin Uthappa and RP Singh set up their base in Dubai. Several other unknown former cricketers Rashid Patel and RP Singh Sr. have also been in England for more than three decades.

However, when such a decision comes from an iconic cricketer like Kohli, the move takes on a different dynamic altogether. We saw Kohli and Anushka roaming on the streets of Australia during their recent tour, not a single person bothered them when they roamed around. They could live a normal life and enjoy the year-end celebrations. This can never happen for Kohli and his family in India.

In fact, we had the sight of Kohli taking on an Australian television reporter for allegedly filming his children. However, apart from such one-off incidents, we have never heard of such intrusions for such established names, unless, of course, they are royalty or Hollywood stars. Kohli is not the only person from India planning to visit the United Kingdom.

Kohli is not the only person from India planning to visit the United Kingdom.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom has experienced significant changes in its employment landscape, particularly with regard to nationalities filling new job roles.

Key Statistics (2019 – 2024):

• Indian citizens have filled 488,000 new roles

• Nigerians hold 279,000 new positions

• British citizens have gained 257,000 new jobs

• Jobs for EU citizens seen fall by 242,000

A comprehensive study into the mass migration of Indians

From 2021, the British government has reduced the salary threshold for non-EU immigrants from £30,000 to £25,600. Additionally, skill level requirements were reduced from degree-level to A-level or equivalent.

British authorities have also suspended the annual limit on sponsorship. Furthermore, the proportion of jobs held by non-EU citizens increased from 7% at the end of 2019 to more than 11% by the end of 2023. Concurrently the proportion of jobs held by EU citizens declined from 8.6% to 7.5%.

Currently, Indian workers come with the largest number of dependents. About 67,380 Indian workers are expected to arrive in the United Kingdom in 2022, along with 70,647 dependents. This has partly been a contributor to the increase in the number of asylum seekers coming to the United Kingdom since 2019.

In 2023, the largest group of immigrants to Britain were Indians, who totaled 250,000.

Details of Indian immigrants to UK in 2023:

purpose of immigration number of persons

• Work: 127,000

• Study: 115,000

• Other reasons: 9,000

Comparison with other nationalities:

• Indians: 250,000

• Nigerian: 141,000

• Chinese: 90,000

• Pakistani: 83,000

The second major factor that has led to this migration is that there has also been a huge change in the number of people renouncing Indian citizenship.

In 2023, a total of 216,219 Indians gave up their citizenship, a slight decrease from 225,620 in 2022.

Annual statistics of renunciation of Indian citizenship:

• 2019: 144,017

• 2020: 85,256

• 2021: 163,370

• 2022: 225,620

• 2023: 216,219

Top countries to receive Indian citizens in 2022:

• United States: 71,991

• Canada: 60,139

• Australia: 40,377

• United Kingdom: 21,457

• New Zealand: 7,911

The number of Indians abandoning passports has seen some changes in the last five years, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But after this it has gained momentum.

Apart from migration data to United Kingdom, there is also another option to transfer base to United Arab Emirates (UAE). While other countries offer the opportunity to change passport, UAE has launched a new scheme called Golden Visa. It is especially popular among high net worth individuals (HNIs). Many high-profile singers, actors and as mentioned earlier, sportspersons from India have availed the benefits of this scheme.

Highlights of UAE Golden Visa:

• Duration: 5 to 10 years, renewable

• Sponsorship: No local sponsor required; Visa holders can sponsor immediate family members

• business ownership: Allows 100% ownership without the need for a local partner

• tax benefits: no personal income tax

• Residency Flexibility: No minimum stay requirement to maintain residence

eligibility criteria:

• Investor: Minimum investment in UAE real estate or approved business enterprises AED 2 million (approximately ₹4.5 crore)

• entrepreneur: Own a successful startup with a minimum valuation of AED 500,000 (approximately ₹1.1 crore)

• professional: Exceptional talents in fields such as medicine, science, engineering or education with relevant qualifications and experience

• Excellent student: Exceptional academic performance in UAE high schools or universities

For wealthy Indians, the UAE, especially Dubai, offers access to the rest of the world with a high quality of life, including world-class infrastructure and a cosmopolitan culture. All cities in the UAE have low crime rates along with exciting business opportunities. Another big attraction for the UAE is the absence of personal income tax.

After all, Kohli’s decision was practical

While the statistics provide a broader perspective, the much-awaited move by Kohli is a personal decision. It is also a practical decision as he wants his children to live a normal life which is almost impossible in India. He can never have the experiences he had recently in Australia or London.

But Kohli’s move also shows how icons like him look for a safe place for their families. This is the ideal way to balance public and private life. Kohli’s move is not just about cricket or convenience but about setting the right priorities for his young family.

As he reaches the final stages of his international career, the entire cricket world and indeed all of India will be watching his next steps very closely. One thing is certain that no matter where he goes, his heart will keep beating for India. He firmly remains India’s biggest global icon at present, as can be seen from his emotional celebration on the recent Australian tour.