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Team India captain Virat Kohli is undoubtedly among the greatest batsmen to have graced the game of cricket, perhaps even the best of the modern era.
Virat Kohli’s record across all three formats of the game speaks for itself. In 91 Tests, the Indian skipper has 7490 runs to his name at an average of 52.37 with 27 Test hundreds. Virat Kohli’s record in ODIs is even more incredible - 12169 runs in 254 matches, averaging 59.07 with 43 hundreds.
While the 32-year-old is yet to reach three figures in T20Is, he has an exceptional record in the shortest format of the game as well. In 90 T20Is, Virat Kohli has smashed 3159 runs at an average of 52.65 and a strike rate of 139.04.
Virat Kohli: Beyond the batsman and captain
Virat Kohli has often been termed as brash and over-aggressive. However, there are different pleasing facets to his personality that are not spoken about enough. In this feature, we look beyond Virat Kohli the cricketer.
#3 The crowd pleaser
Virat Kohli is a crowd pleaser for sure. He loves interacting with them, and getting the fans at the stadium involved in the thick of things. One of the recent examples was witnessed during the second day of the second Test against England in Chennai earlier this year.
India were in the field and Virat Kohli whistled to the Chepauk crowd, asking them to make some noise and cheer for the home team. The crowd did not disappoint. As Virat Kohli did his whistle act and gestured towards the fans, the decibel level in the stadium rose immediately.
BCCI tweeted the video of Virat Kohli’s candid moment with the crowd, captioning it:
"When in Chennai, you #WhistlePodu! #TeamIndia skipper @imVkohli egging the Chepauk crowd on & they do not disappoint. #INDvENG."
Whistle Podu has been the tagline of MS Dhoni-led IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) even since the inception of the T20 league in 2008. But the Chennai crowd did not mind Virat Kohli’s whistling performance one bit.
#2 The romantic hero
Most cricket fans will remember Aussie great Ricky Ponting blowing a kiss to his wife after completing a double century against India during the 2003 Adelaide Test. We never expected an Indian cricketer to do something as romantic. That was until Virat Kohli came along.
During an ODI against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad back in 2014, Virat Kohli sent a kiss towards ladylove Anushka Sharma, who was in the stands, after completing his half-century. The actor let out a shy smile as the cameras captured her reaction to the cricketer’s cute gesture.
Anushka’s presence proved lucky for Virat Kohli as he also became the fastest cricketer to reach 6000 runs in ODIs. The current Indian captain has repeated the flying kiss act a couple of more times since, and fans have enjoyed the romantic hero in Virat Kohli on each occasion.
Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma are now happily married and were blessed with a daughter at the start of the year. The Indian skipper had returned home after the first Test against Australia late last year to be with his wife for the birth of their child.
#1 The ultimate sportsman
Nothing beats Virat Kohli’s sporting gesture for Aussie legend Steve Smith during the 2019 World Cup encounter at the Kennington Oval, London. Smith was fielding at the boundary, where the Indian contingent was booing him. The Aussie had just returned to cricket, having served his ball-tampering ban.
Unhappy with the crowd’s reaction, Virat Kohli gestured in their direction, asking them to clap for Smith instead of booing him. Appreciating the Indian captain’s gesture, Smith later came up to him, patted his back and the two modern-day giants shook hands. Virat Kohli’s wonderful gesture was recognized by ICC with the Spirit of Cricket Award.
After the match, Virat Kohli spoke about his support for Smith. He said:
"What happened, happened long back. He's back, trying to play well for his side. It is not good to see someone down like that. You don't want to see a guy feeling heat every time he goes out to play. I just felt for him and I told him sorry on behalf of the crowd because I have seen that happen in a few earlier games as well. In my opinion, that's not acceptable."
Reacting to the Indian captain’s heartwarming gesture, Smith later told IANS:
“In the World Cup it was really nice of Virat (Kohli) to do what he did. He did not have to do that and yeah it was a lovely gesture and really appreciated that.”
Both Virat Kohli and Smith are rated among the best batsmen of the current era across all the three formats of the game.
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