Virat Kohli, the superstar of Indian Cricket, recently opened up about the importance of number 18 in his cricketing and life journey. He was in a sit-down interview with Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the Indian Premier League, just before Royal Challengers Bangalore are set to play against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Star Sports posted the interview earlier today on their official Twitter account as part of the build-up to the all-important IPL match in the race for playoffs. In it, the former Cricket World Cup winner first talked about how he got the number 18 on his Indian jersey.
“To be honest, 18, it started off just being a number that was given to me when I first opened that India U-19 jersey. First time I got my name and number at the back and I got 18. So I never asked for it. It was just given to me,” said Kohli.
Watch the video here:
Then, the RCB opener mentioned how important the number 18 has become in his cricketing and life journey. He remarked, “It ended up becoming a very very important number in my life. My debut game for India was on the 18th of August, 2008. My father passed away on the 18th of December, 2006. But yeah, I mean two of the most significant dates in my life happened to be 18. But I got the number way before that.”
The Delhi-born cricketer also shared his belief regarding the number 18 and said, “There has to be a cosmic connection with this number. I find it quite surreal even now to be honest when we are going to games and I see so many people wearing my jersey number and name along with so many other people. It’s quite surreal because I never imagined that I would be in this position one day.”
“I was a kid wanting to wear my hero’s jersey at a certain given point of time, so it's, just feel grateful and you feel like, this is such a great opportunity god has given you and you feel truly blessed,” concluded Kohli.
