Star Pakistan batter Mohammad Rizwan recently won the hearts of cricket fans all over the world when he referred to former India captain as 'our Virat Kohli' during an interview. In a chat with Cricwick, Rizwan spoke about the cricket fraternity as a whole, calling it one big unit, and said: "We are like a family. If I say 'our Virat Kohli', then I will not be wrong. Or 'our Pujara', 'our Smith' or 'our Root', because we all are one family."
Now, in another interaction, Rizwan has opened up on why he made that statement. Rizwan recalled his first meeting with Kohli during the India vs Pakistan match at last year's T20 World Cup. As Pakistan won by 10 wickets to register their first-ever World Cup win over India, images of Kohli hugging and embracing Rizwan after the match went viral. Rizwan has till date not disclosed the details of his chat with Kohli but did not hold back in his adulation for the former India captain.
"It was the first time I was meeting Kohli. The kind of things I had heard about him… like other players told me 'Virat is aggressive and all'. But the way he met me before and after the match, it was amazing. If I said 'he is our Virat Kohli', it's because we all are a family. Obviously, when we enter the ground, no one is a star. There we have no brotherhood or anything of that sort. But outside the field, when we met Kohli, and some of our players also met MS Dhoni, we met with a lot of love and affection. Nothing was different," Rizwan said on the YouTube show Cricket Baaz with Waheed Khan.
While there continues to be an indefinite halt to bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan, the two teams do face off in ICC events. In fact, this year in the English County Championship, Rizwan is teammates with India batter Cheteshwar Pujara for Sussex where the two have spent quality time. Pujara recently came up with a heart-warming birthday wish for Rizwan on his birthday on June 1, which was an instant winner on Twitter. Rizwan opened up on his camaraderie with Pujara and summed up saying that everytime players of India and Pakistan meet off the field, there is nothing but respect between the players.
{{/usCountry}}While there continues to be an indefinite halt to bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan, the two teams do face off in ICC events. In fact, this year in the English County Championship, Rizwan is teammates with India batter Cheteshwar Pujara for Sussex where the two have spent quality time. Pujara recently came up with a heart-warming birthday wish for Rizwan on his birthday on June 1, which was an instant winner on Twitter. Rizwan opened up on his camaraderie with Pujara and summed up saying that everytime players of India and Pakistan meet off the field, there is nothing but respect between the players.
{{/usCountry}}"Even in County cricket, where Pujara is with me, believe me, we live with so much love. In fact, I am the one who keeps bugging him, call him out. He keeps laughing. Similarly, it was same with Virat Kohli as well. When I met him the first time, it was with a lot of love and affection," added Rizwan.