"What sort of medium-fast bowler bowls close to 150 kph?" - 3 cricketers who stunned Virat Kohli
Not many players have been as successful as Virat Kohli in cricket history. The former Indian skipper has registered 70 tons in international cricket. His overall aggregate across the three formats of the game stands at 23,726 runs.
Fans enjoy the way Virat Kohli plays cricket. He has dominated most of his opponents on the field, but there have been multiple instances where some cricket players have left Kohli stunned with their decisions or skill-sets.
In this listicle, we will look at three such players:
#1 Mohammad Irfan on his pace surprising Virat Kohli
Pakistan's left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Irfan troubled the Indian batters during the last bilateral series between the two arch-rivals in 2012/13. He took three wickets in three ODIs against India, while in the two-match T20I series, his economy rate was less than six runs per over.
In an interview with Cric Cast in 2020, Irfan revealed that Virat Kohli did not expect him to bowl around 150 kmph. His coaches told him that Irfan's speed was between 130 and 135 kmph, but when Virat faced his delivery at 147 kmph, he was left stunned.
"Virat Kohli told this to me face to face. And when I bowled the next one at 148 kph, he told me that he abused the person next to him asking what sort of medium-fast bowler I was, as I was bowling at 150 kph," Irfan said in his interview.
#2 Rohit Sharma
During a chat with Gaurav Kapoor on Breakfast With Champions in 2018, Virat Kohli revealed that back in 2006/07, many youngsters, including him, used to wonder what was special about Rohit Sharma.
There was a buzz among cricket fans that an immensely talented individual named Rohit Sharma was rising in Indian cricket. Virat was very curious because even he was a young player then, but no one talked about him.
Virat said that he was absolutely stunned when he watched Rohit Sharma bat for India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2007. At that moment, he realized why there was so much hype surrounding his arrival.
#3 MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni announced his retirement from Test cricket during India's away series against Australia in 2014/15. He was the captain of India in that series, but after the third Test, he handed over the team's reins to Kohli.
Everyone in the Indian dressing room, including new skipper Kohli, was shocked. Speaking to reporters after Dhoni's retirement, Kohli said:
"We had no clue. We never saw it coming, so it was pretty shocking."
This was not the only occasion when Dhoni surprised Kohli. Even during the 2019 Cricket World Cup, which proved to be Dhoni's last tournament for India, a magnificent six from the wicket-keeper batter left Kohli in disbelief. It came against Australia's Mitchell Starc during one of the matches in the group stage.