Picture Credit: Twitter
Virat Kohli is one of the legends of the game. The right-handed batter has established himself as one of the best in the world through his consistent performances for Team India at the international level. Over the years, he has played so many match-winning knocks and inspired so many of the aspiring cricketers and other passionate young population that would not be an understatement to call him one of the poster boys of the game at this moment.
As Virat is set to play his 100th Test match in Mohali, his former Ranji Trophy teammate Punit Bisht remembered the emotional partnership he had with Kohli in the now-famous Delhi vs Karnataka Ranji Trophy game. Kohli had just lost his father in the night but decided to continue his innings in the morning to bail his team out of a difficult situation. Even when he got out on 90, a 17-year-old Kohli was frustrated because he was wrongly given out by the umpire.
ALSO READ | Shame on BCCI: Allow crowd in Mohali trends on Twitter ahead of Virat Kohli’s 100th Test match
However, wicketkeeper Bisht recalled how the entire Delhi dressing room was numb during that match in 2006 and everyone felt that Kohli should go back home.
"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, who now plays for Meghalaya, was quoted as saying in a PTI report.
"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 added.
Captain and coach told Virat to go home: Bisht
The stumper who shared quite a few laughs and memories with Kohli as the latter would stand at slips near him revealed that on learning the tragedy which Virat had suffered, captain Mithun Manhas and coach Chetan Chauhan had told him to go back home.
"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 said.
"Trust me, no one in the team even had a second thought that he should go back and be with his family and take his own time to grieve. But this is Virat Kohli we are talking about. He was made of different stuff," he further said.
Virat was destined for the elite league: Bisht
The duo added 152 runs in that match and while the future India skipper missed out on a hundred in this game, Bisht ended up with a 156. Overall, Bisht has featured in 96 first-class games and scored over 4000 runs. During their stand, as Bisht recalled in the same PTI interview, Kohli would come up to him and say: "lamba khelna hai, out nahi hona hai". That was pretty much all they talked about with Bisht wondering whether to console his younger partner or focus on the job at hand.
"Well, me and Virat knew each other much before we played Ranji Trophy together. He was 15 and I was also in my teens and in the Delhi club circuit, everyone spoke about him. Virat was destined for the elite league and one knew he won't hang around domestic level for too long," Bisht said.
"He wasn't just another player but an enforcer, who made his presence felt even when he was fielding. He was always aggressive and it's not something that he developed overnight. It's good to see that what Virat was at 17, he is still the same at 33. He hasn't changed his persona," he added.
