Virat Kohli made his Test debut back in 2011 and almost 11 years later, he’s set to play his 100th match in the format. The now 33-year-old is also 28 runs short of becoming the sixth Indian batter with 8000 plus runs in Test cricket. Kohli will walk out for the milestone game when Team […]
Virat Kohli made his Test debut back in 2011 and almost 11 years later, he’s set to play his 100th match in the format. The now 33-year-old is also 28 runs short of becoming the sixth Indian batter with 8000 plus runs in Test cricket. Kohli will walk out for the milestone game when Team India lock horns with Sri Lanka in the first game of the two-match series on March 4 in Mohali.
Prior to the historic game, his former Delhi teammate Punit Bisht turned back the clock and reminded one of Kohli’s toughest moments in his career in 2006. Amidst Delhi’s fight for survival in their Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka, a 17-year-old Kohli had lost his father. The atmosphere in the dressing room was gloomy after Kohli’s father died following a brain stroke.
Despite the personal tragedy, Kohli went on to play the game and conjured praises from Bisht and the other teammates for showing a great amount of courage.
“To this day I wonder, how in the world did he muster the courage to drop in at the ground. We were all numb at his tragedy and here the boy was standing in the dressing room and ready to go out and bat,” Bisht told PTI.
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“Mind it, his father’s last rites hadn’t been performed and he had just come because he didn’t want his team to lose a batter as we were not in a great position,” he stated.
The now 35-year-old Bisht said that head coach Chetan Chauhan and skipper Mithun Manhas had asked Kohli to go home and be with his family.
“Chetan sir, if memory doesn’t serve me wrong, was our coach that season. Both Chetan sir and Mithun bhai told Virat to go home as they were not sure whether it would be a prudent idea to let the kid go out there in a tense situation and how he would mentally cope up,” Bisht added.
Virat Kohli went on to score 90 runs off 238 balls and put on a useful partnership of 152 runs along with Bisht. Delhi couldn’t take a first innings lead, but the game ended in a draw. Kohli would later go on to win the U19 World Cup in Malaysia and scale heights for Team India in all three formats.
