Former Indian skipper, Virat Kohli failed to lead India to an ICC title, but his individual performances over the years have been bigger than the trophies. He triggered a terrific turnaround not only in the approach of Indian cricket but even in terms of fitness standards, introducing the much-debated Yo-Yo test. Besides, the players to have debuted under Kohli’s captaincy – Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, and Suryakumar Yadav – have all proven themselves as individual match-winners over the years.
Out of these, the most emotional journey has been that of Siraj’s and Virat Kohli has had trust in the pacer’s abilities since his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) days. All through the journey, Kohli never backed out of supporting Mohammed Siraj, as revealed by their RCB teammate Dinesh Karthik.
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During a recent chat on the Cricbuzz show, Dinesh Karthik said, “He has gone on to do so well for RCB in 2020 post-pandemic when he just came through. He was about to be dropped but Virat Kohli backed him and said ‘I want him in the Playing XI’. And he had something to do with me because I was part of the KKR team that had gotten all out for less than 100. He picked up three wickets and won the Player of the Match.”
He further added, “From there, his T20 career simply took off. He did really well and it is great to see somebody come from those strata of society have so much confidence and do so well in life. He has a great success story that a lot of people can draw inspiration from.”
Mohammed Siraj shares great admiration for Kohli, and it pushed him home to perform better while playing under the former India captain. Even when Siraj struggled in his first run – in T20Is after a nightmare of a debut that saw him conceding 53 runs – Kohli stood behind him like a rock, and probably it was because of this immovable belief in him that Siraj has always remained grateful to Virat.
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Explaining the same, Dinesh Karthik said, “I think he looks at him like a guiding light. In his tough times, Virat Kohli backed him and he really appreciates that. I think there are 2 people he really values a lot – Bharat Arun and Kohli. Because in his formative years for Hyderabad, Bharat Arun was the coach and he really guided him during those moments to achieve greatness and good things. Bharat And Virat Kohli as someone who has captained him when he performed so well and been an important force in his life.”
