“Have never seen Virat Kohli travel in business class” - When a former India cricketer opener up on star batter’s humble nature
Former India captain Virat Kohli is unarguably one of the most popular cricketers in the world. And while he may paint the picture of an ultra-aggressive character on the cricket field, who does not like giving an inch, he is said to be a thorough gentlemen off it. Many former cricketers have vouched for the same.
Speaking on Sportskeeda's special show 'SK Tales' back in 2022, former India pacer Vivek Razdan had opened up on Kohli's humble nature. He claimed that he had never seen the former India skipper travel in business class during flights.
Apparently, when cricketers travel during matches, two seats in business class are reserved for the captain and coach, respectively. As per Razdan, Kohli never took the business class seat when he was the captain. Instead, he preferred to offer his business class seat to one of the bowlers. The former pacer told SK Tales:
“In a flight, two seats are reserved in business class - one for the captain and one for the coach. But I have never seen Virat Kohli travel in business class during a flight. He always prefers to be with his teammates in the economy class. Apart from the coach, there was always a bowler occupying one of the business class seats. It was either Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami or, sometimes, Ravichandran Ashwin.”
“He felt that since the bowlers worked extremely hard on the ground, so at least for three-four hours, they could relax,” the 55-year-old added.
In the same show, Razdan, who made his one-day debut with Sachin Tendulkar in 1989, added that Kohli never requested a business-class seat even for wife Anushka Sharma. The latter traveled with the team to West Indies in 2019, when Kohli was the captain. Giving another example of the star batter's humility, Razdan added:
“Even when Anushka Sharma joined the West Indies tour of 2019 later, she and Virat traveled together in economy class. Virat never requested for his business class seat to be given to Anushka.”
Razdan played two Tests and three ODIs for India between 1989 and 1990, claiming six wickets. He picked up a five-fer in the Sialkot Test against Pakistan.
Virat Kohli's record as captain in international cricket
Kohli is India's most successful captain in Test matches. He won 40 out of the 68 matches that he led the country in, losing only 17 and drawing the other 11.
Looking at his record as leader in limited-overs formats, the 35-year-old led India in 95 ODIs. The Men in Blue won 65 of them and lost 27, one match ended in a tie, while two games produced no result. In T20Is, the star batter led India to victory in 30 out of 50 games. The Men in Blue lost 16 matches; two games ended in a tie, while two produced no result.