Veteran India paceman Ishant Sharma walked down memory lane to recall a tale of Virat Kohli when in the saddest time of his life he showed his strongest side. The batting maestro lost his father in 2006 due to a heart attack but the young Virat despite the massive tragedy displayed his strong mentality and went on to play in the Ranji Trophy match the next day.
Kohli and Ishant shared a strong bond of friendship since their childhood days as they started playing together in the U-17 days and the journey continued in the Delhi domestic and Indian cricket team.
The Indian pacer recalled the incident and said Kohli used to pick him up before every match and he did the same the day after his father’s demise.
“I have never seen him cry, but I know that he was saddest when his father expired. We were playing a Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka. He was batting overnight, and he used always pick me for the match. We used to go from Patel Nagar to Feroz Shah Kotla. He was very serious (that day), and there was a video analyst with him,” Ishant said while speaking on Ranveer Allahbadia’s YouTube show.
Ishant talked about Kohli’s mental toughness and said if something like that had happened to him he might not have played the match the next day.
“I asked him why he was so serious, but he did not reply. I gave him a tapli (a gentle knock) on the head. Then the other person told me that his father has expired. I did not know how to react. We were 17. He still batted and scored 80 runs as well. If something like that had happened to me, I don’t think I could even have gone to the ground,” Ishant added.
Ishant also talked about Kohli’s different phases in his cricketing career and recalled how he used to party a lot in the initial phase and even scored 250 after partying the whole night.
“I have seen all his phases. From party to tattoo, fitness freak to top performer, he has made a massive transformation in his career. He was fond of parties, and during a tournament in Kolkata, he went partying the whole night but scored 250 the next day. He was unbeaten the previous day, and we were representing Delhi in U-19 cricket,” Ishant added.
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