Virat Kohli opens up about his father's refusal to pay a bribe

Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli revealed how he once failed to make the team at junior level in Delhi because his father refused to pay a bribe. Virat Kohli made the revelation when he caught up with Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri on ‘Eleven on Ten’, an Instagram Live session hosted by the latter.

“There was a time in state cricket when many factors would come into play, and things wouldn’t be fair. I won’t elaborate on it too much. There was an opportunity there when a certain someone chose not to play by the rules and say that there is no problem with the merit but you’ll have to do a little ‘extra’,” Virat Kohli said.

Virat Kohli believes that one needs to be extraordinary in order to succeed

Speaking about his father, Virat Kohli said that he was a hardworking man that had to create his own path and make a life for himself. The 2008 U-19 World Cup-winning captain believes that hardworking people do not understand the language of bribery and dishonesty.

Virat Kohli spoke up about how his father refused to pay the bribe and said that his father taught him that to be successful in life, you would have to do something extraordinary. Virat Kohli also credited his father for his outlook that one needs to rely only on their own hard work to achieve their goals.

“He’s someone that studied under streetlights. From there, he worked hard and became a lawyer. He even worked in the merchant navy. Someone who works that hard does not understand this language. He just told my coach, ‘if he plays on merit, it’s good. If not, I don’t want him to play. I won’t do all this’,” Virat Kohli said.

“I wasn’t selected so I cried a lot. That incident taught me that the world runs like this. If you want to become something, do something that nobody else is doing. My father taught me that you can rely only on your hard work. He made a living for himself and taught me life lessons through his actions,” Virat Kohli added.

No need to look back. As we move only one way - AHEAD. pic.twitter.com/EVP74qPV41

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) May 17, 2020

Virat Kohli lost his father as an 18-year-old in December 2006 during a Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka. He would go out and play for his state team the very next day, and went on to play a valuable knock to save the game for Delhi.