India batter Virat Kohli has shared his likeliness for the Indian Premier League, saying that the T20 league’s success relies on the beautiful bond between players and fans. However, Kohli opted out of the ongoing five-Test series against England due to personal reasons, but he is expected to be back for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL opener against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on March 22 as well.
“I absolutely love IPL, also because of the camaraderie you share, so many new players you play with, so many players that you’ve known for a long time who are not from your own country, whom you don’t see often,” Kohli told Star Sports during an interaction.”There’s a reason why everyone loves IPL so much, as there’s a connect, both for players and fans.”
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However, Virat Kohli added minimal interaction between players from different teams in various cricket tournaments, including those organized by the ICC global events as well.
“You do play all your tournaments which is one team versus another. ICC tournaments come every now and then, but even in ICC tournaments, you don’t interact with other players or see the other team, so often. But in IPL, you’re probably meeting every team just every second or third day, and that’s the beauty of IPL. You are playing in different conditions in a different city with a different team. Everybody has a different kind of determination at various stages of the tournament and such magical moments are being created,” Virat Kohli concluded.
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Virat Kohli had a stunning season in 2023, scoring 639 runs in 14 IPL innings, including two centuries. Kohli tops the tournament’s all-time scoring chart with 7263 runs as well and holds the record for the most centuries as well, with seven to his name. Kohli averages 43.51 and has a strike rate of 135.45 in his name, having scored 3611 runs in 98 matches as an opener in IPL as well. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has scored 2815 runs which came at an average of 35.19 and a strike rate of 123.79 as No. 3 in tournament history as well.
