Comparing cricketers is a pretty common phenomenon in Indian cricket and the most talked about of them all is the comparison between legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar and current Indian skipper Virat Kohli.
In a recent interview with Gaurav Kapur on his chat show, ‘Breakfast with Champions’ Kohli rubbished the thought of him being compared to the great Sachin Tendulkar.
Kohli is currently one of the best batsmen in the world and is expected to break most of the records set by the master blaster, but he emphasized that he shouldn’t be compared with the best batsmen, the world ever saw. He said, “You can only compare those who are worthy of the comparison. You are comparing me to someone because of whom I started playing cricket in the first place. I stand no chance in terms of skill level. He’s the most complete batsman ever. Then how can you even compare? I’ve always said it’s not fair no him. Because of what he’s given us, he doesn’t deserve to be compared to us. This generation, no chance.”
When asked by Gaurav what was his reaction when he first went to a dressing room or first went to practice and met him (Sachin), Virat replied, “My first interaction with him was very funny. First interaction, I had prepared for two days to meet him. To meet Sachin Tendulkar in the Indian dressing room. Now, these guys somehow found out ’cause I spoke with someone there about me feeling nervous.”
Even Kohli was pranked for being nervous before meeting Sachin, he described, “They decided to play a prank by telling me that all the rookies in the team have to pay their respects by touching Paaji’s feet. And I took them seriously. I go and greet him. Just as I was about to touch his feet he says, “What are you doing?” I tell him, “They told me I had to touch your feet out of respect when I meet you”. He says, “No, no, they are just pulling your leg”.”
Kohli also revealed that Yuvraj Singh, Munaf Patel, and Harbhajan Singh were behind the prank.
We knew the Indian skipper share a very good rapport with all the players in the team, but it was really pleased to hear it from an enthusiastic Virat Kohli in the chat. He also revealed that only play Punjabi music in the dressing room. “Only Punjabi music is played in the changing room because not many people carry an iPod now. Hardik Pandya has an iPod. And he only has English songs. He doesn’t even know 5 words from any song. All he needs is a beat and he dances. So we get irritated with his songs.”
Virat and Rohit Sharma are one of the most successful batting pairs in ODI cricket and even records suggest the. Recently in the last ODI against New Zealand, they made history by stitching record fourth 200-plus partnership. Talking about their camaraderie and how he got to know about Rohit in his initial days, Virat said, “Initially when Rohit was bursting onto the scene, so we were all very curious because everyone was talking about this player Rohit Sharma. We were very curious because we were also young players but nobody was talking about us.”
He further added, “Then during the T20 World Cup I saw him bat and I just slumped in the sofa. That shut my mouth forever. When you saw him play you understood what people were talking about. What we are witnessing here, amazing. I haven’t seen someone time the ball better than him.”
However, when Kohli revealed about his rapport with MS Dhoni, that moment stole most of the limelight in the chat. Virat didn’t hesitate to accept that he takes help from the experience man. He said, “MS (Dhoni) and I actually have a great understanding. When we are running between the wickets and if he says two, I just close my eyes and run because I know that his judgment is so correct that I will make it.”
The host, Gaurav Kapur pointed out that Dhoni enjoys being in the game, more than even playing. Commenting on the same, Kohli said, “Yeah, amazing. I don’t think I’ve come across a better cricketing brain just in terms of planning and knowing what’s happening in the game and what can be done. Sometimes I like to follow my own instinct as well but whenever I ask him anything, 8 or 9 out of 10 times he always tells you things that work.”
He further elaborated, “So it’s a blessing to have him. Our friendship has grown over the years immensely. A lot of people try to spin a story, create a controversy, it doesn’t matter to us. We have no idea what’s been said in the papers because we don’t read it. We get out together we know there’s nothing happening.”
Talking about the transition from Dhoni’s captaincy to his, Virat said, “The transition went so well, him and I are very close. No one felt it on the field as well. Everything is going well, we are all happy, our relationship’s been the same like it was before. I feel really lucky that he’s still around in my initial years of captaincy and I’m still learning a lot from him.”
It was one of the most candid interviews of Kohli as he even revealed his diet plan of the whole day. When asked by Gaurav if he (Kohli) had a cheat day, which he didn’t have in last 4 years, what he would like to have, Kohli replied, “Chole Bhature of Ram in Rajouri Garden Delhi that too by visiting the place itself as he would like to have them as hot as possible otherwise it will not be that tasty.”
Here is the series of the videos of that chat show:
