Virat Kohli’s former Delhi teammate Puneet Bisht recalled an emotional Ranji match when the former India captain came to bat for his team hours after his father passed away. Virat was very close to his father Prem Kohli as he often talked about him in public forums. His father, a lawyer, suffered a brain stroke in the middle of the night, when Kohli was just 17 years old. It was an emotional moment for the charismatic batsman but he showed some determination towards the game and took the field to save the match for his team.
Bisht, who was not out with Kohli before the day’s play, revealed that when he entered the dressing room on the third day of the match against Karnataka in 2006, there was silence all around and sitting in a corner of the 17-year-old K Kohli, everyone’s eyes became moist.
Bisht praised Kohli’s courage and said the entire team was shocked by his tragedy but the 17-year-old was ready to face the opposition bowlers.
“To this day I wonder how in the world he mustered up the courage to hit the ground. We were all stunned by his tragedy and here’s the guy standing in the dressing room ready to go out and bat.”
He further recalled that Delhi captain Mithun Manhas and coach Chetan Chauhan had asked him to go home as his father was not cremated, but gritty Kohli did not want Delhi to lose a batsman in the crucial game.
Bisht tried to recall the events of the next morning, “Keep in mind, his father was not cremated and he came just because he didn’t want his team to lose a batsman because we were in a great position. Were not.” ,
“Chetan sir, if the memory was not wrong, was our coach that season. Both Chetan sir and Mithun bhai asked Virat to go home as they were not sure whether it would be a wise idea to let the child out in a stressful situation and how he would cope mentally,” he said.
Bisht, once the chief wicketkeeper of Delhi, who now plays as a professional for Meghalaya, heaped praise on the former India captain and said that he is made of different things.
“Trust me, no one in the team once thought that he should go back and be with his family and take his time to grieve. But we are talking about Virat Kohli. He is different- was made of different things,” Bisht said.
The batting maestro has come a long way in international cricket as he is regarded as one of the best batsmen to have played the game. On March 4, Kohli will play his 100th Test match for India, which is a remarkable achievement in itself.
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