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Cricket Players'Virat feels as if 'It's only me. I am the king of this place'': Kohli's former teammates; 'People said he had attitude'
Outside of his stellar numbers, Virat Kohli's aggression, obsession with fitness and an insatiable hunger has seen the Indian cricket team transform into a formidable unit.
Having spent 14 years in international cricket, Virat Kohli has cemented his place as an all-time great. Outside of his stellar numbers, Kohli's aggression, obsession with fitness and an insatiable hunger has seen the Indian cricket team transform into a formidable unit. He may not have won ICC trophies, but as Test captain, not only did Kohli become India's most successful leaving behind the likes of MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly, he helped them finish five years in a row as the No. 1-ranked Test team. A rich legacy indeed, and Kohli still has a few more years left in him.
Having said that, Kohli has had to sweat profusely for everything he has earned in life. From an Under-19 World Cup winning captain, the road to becoming one of the top batters and athletes in the world saw Kohli make many a sacrifice. Kohli's teammate from his Under-19 days, Pradeep Sangwan and Tanmay Srivastava narrate how Virat's never-ending passion for the game always helped stand him out from the rest of the group.
"We all knew Virat will play for India one day because of his habit of scoring big hundreds. It’s a habit since the beginning. Bahot maarta tha (He used to score plenty of runs) and he ensured he scored against all good teams. His mindset was such that if he scores big against big teams then his chances of getting picked for the Indian team will get closer. Log poochenge, jaanenge about him. (People will be curious about him,)" Sangwan recalled of Kohli while writing for The Indian Express.
"When he is inside the ground, he never gives up. He feels as if bas mein hi hoon, maine akele ne karna hai bas. (It's just me. I have to get the job done.) I'm the king of this place and I will win this game for my team. When inside the dressing room, he will look out for guys with whom he can crack jokes. He will pass comments. He keeps the environment light which is very important because sometimes the situation is tense inside the dressing room."
Srivastava, meanwhile remembered how Kohli’s aggression would be mistaken by a lot of people as attitude, but added that once he established himself, they same guys understood the real essence of Kohli and what he brought to the table.
"He was alag (different) because of his attitude since the beginning. The way he used to fight and take on anyone on the ground was there from the beginning. We had a great team in 2008 and all were match winners. I knew Virat since the under 19 zonal games, North Zone played a match once against Central Zone. North Zone had players like Ishant Sharma too. I scored 180 runs for Central and he went on to score 190 runs, it was the first time I saw that he has dum (spirit) in him. He slammed us across the ground," he said.
"He was aggressive. People used to say, 'look, he has attitude issues'. But when he began to perform, his attitude became aggression in their eyes! Many former players used to say, 'Bada khalifa ban gaya hai (he has become a big player)’. They would taunt saying 'iska chashma (sunglasses) & walk (swag) toh dekho. The moment he didn't score everyone started pointing fingers at him.
