Virat’s desire to win was so bad that it was attractive: Chhetri
Sunil Chhetri reflects on Virat Kohli's Test retirement, sharing their bond over cricket, fitness, and mutual support in their sports journeys.
Kolkata: “Today, when I reached out, I realised he is at peace.” That was Sunil Chhetri reacting to Virat Kohli retiring from Tests. Chettri’s equation with international retirement has changed – the striker is in the India squad for next month’s matches against Thailand and Hong Kong – but he would know that feeling. The feeing of letting go a big part of yourself.
“And Test cricket was a big part of him,” Chhetri told HT over the phone from Bengaluru on Monday. “My knowledge of the sport is limited at best but the patience with which he would explain anything about Tests that I wanted to know showed how deeply he cared for it.”
Chhetri said he and cricket did not run very well between wickets, especially after Sachin Tendulkar retired in 2013. “That changed after I got to know Virat,” he said. “You can say I watch cricket a little more because of him, a little more of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) too.” That usually also means at least one IPL match live in Bengaluru involving the home team. “This time it was RCB playing Chennai Super Kings,” he said
“I went with Ryan Williams (an Australian teammate at Bengaluru FC) and it was a good evening. Virat got around 60 (62) and RCB won,” said Chhetri.
Chhetri said he and Kohli have known each other for “13-14 years.” At Kohli’s wedding reception in Mumbai in 2017, not long after Chhetri had got married, the then India and Bengaluru FC skipper posted a picture of the newlyweds along with his wife Sonam Bhattacharya and wrote: “There are two captains in this picture. The other two play cricket and football for a living.”
“We would keep bumping into each other at events but didn’t know each other well. Even then, his desire to win was so bad that it was attractive. Especially in Tests. India winning abroad was a function of a lot of things but Kohli’s commitment and attitude sure contributed to that shift,” said Chhetri.
“Similar background, age and being from the same city helped us get to know each other,” said Chhetri, who will be 41 in August but had his best club season since 2017-18 this time with 14 goals and two assists for Bengaluru FC in the Indian Super League. “But what really connects us is that we laugh at the same jokes, the same memes.”
An obsessive approach to fitness, sharing workout videos and meals, is something they also bond over. “It is good to share the same kind of vision and passion,” Kohli said in an Instagram conversation with Chhetri during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. “When you see someone trying to push himself that much more, it automatically motivates you,” said Chhetri on Monday.
“The thing is: if either of us is not in a good space in his sport and reaches out to the other, he would be told, ‘I get it.’ Sometimes that means a lot,” said Chhetri.
