'Few random guys chased me and Virat in South Africa' - 5 lesser-known stories about Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is one of the most popular cricketers across the world right now. He has earned everything with his incredible on-field performances for the Indian cricket team and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The former Indian skipper has been lucky enough to share the dressing room with many legends of the game. Quite a few new players have also had the opportunity to spend time with Kohli at Team India or RCB.
Some of Kohli's former teammates and associates have shared some interesting stories about him in recent years. With that in mind, we will look at five such lesser-known stories.
#1 When Virat Kohli went to a relatively unsafe place for non-veg food
Pradeep Sangwan was a member of the Indian squad that won the U19 World Cup under Virat Kohli in 2008 in Malaysia. In a special interview with the Indian Express ahead of Kohli's 100th Test match for the Indian team, Sangwan recalled an incident from the time he traveled to South Africa for an U19 tour with the Delhi batter.
The former RCB skipper had heard about a place that serves good mutton rolls. He wanted to go there with Sangwan, but their driver told them that the place was not safe. Narrating what happened there, Sangwan said:
"I got scared, but he said, ‘chal yaar, wahan chalenge’ (no biggie, dude, let’s go) and he took me there too. We ate and few random guys chased us, but we just drove our car back and only stopped after reaching our place."
#2 Virat Kohli is still in touch with his U19 teammates on WhatsApp
Another U19 teammate of Virat Kohli to share an experience involving the veteran batter ahead of his 100th Test was Tanmay Srivastava. He recalled Bhuvneshwar Kumar's wedding and described his meeting with Kohli at the function.
Srivastava reminisced:
"I met him in Bhuvi’s wedding, he was the same. He took me aside, asked me about how things are going on. We have a Whatsapp group, he replies whenever he gets free."
#3 When Virat Kohli met his former U15 teammate in the UK
Earlier this year, during India's tour of England, Kohli took some time out to meet his former U15 teammate Dwaraka Ravi Teja. Recollecting how he would listen to Tollywood music with Kohli during their U15 days, Ravi Teja took to Instagram to share a picture with Kohli with the caption:
"When we were roommates and I used to watch Chiranjeevi’s songs on tv and he used to dance to them and from then on we never called each other by our names and Chiru was the nickname we gave each other and whenever we met post that we always called each other Chiru."
#4 How does Virat Kohli treat the senior cricketers?
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India's legendary cricketer narrated an unknown story involving a teen Virat Kohli.
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Former Indian cricketer Chandu Borde said in an interview with News18 that when he met Virat during the day/night Test against Bangladesh in 2019, he greeted him with a lot of respect. Borde coached Kohli at a North Zone camp in Mohali when he was around 18 years old. The former cricketer said:
"The moment he saw me, he came and greeted me. There are some cricketers who still have respect for old cricketers, and Virat Kohli is one of them."
#5 When Virat Kohli won Sir Viv Richards' respect on a flight
Popular commentator Vivek Razdan appeared on Sportskeeda's SK Tales Show earlier this year. During one of the episodes, he revealed the details of a lesser-known incident involving Kohli and former West Indies cricketer Sir Viv Richards.
It happened during India's tour of West Indies in 2019. Richards was a part of the commentary panel, but he did not have sufficient space to keep his bag. Narrating what Kohli did after seeing that, Razdan said:
"Kohli walked up from his seat and started rearranging the luggage of the players. In the end, he removed his own bag from the locker, kept it below the seat ahead of him and put Viv Richards’ bag in that space. Richards tapped his shoulder and thanked him."
This incident proves how humble Kohli is in real life. The former Indian captain, who is currently on a break, will return to action on August 28 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.