Virat Kohli will now be seen in action during the tour of West Indies next month.© AFP
Star India batter Virat Kohli is driven by ‘belief’ rather than ‘hope’, feels veteran India pacer Ishant Sharma. Having played with Kohli since their U-17 days in Delhi, Ishant has seen the ups and downs in the former India captain’s career. Known as the ‘chase master’, Kohli has won so many games for India, especially when other players had a bad day at the office. One such iconic knock came from his bat last year against Pakistan during the T20 World Cup in Australia. Speaking in a recent interaction, Ishant recalled an incident from their U-19 days when Kohli partied all knight and ended up scoring a 250 next day.
“We were playing a U-19 match in Kolkata. He was batting overnight, yet partied all night and the next day he scored 250. I have seen that phase of Kohli as well. The best thing about him, according to me, is how he changed his physical aspect starting in 2012, after the World Cup. He was training, but because of his diet, his mental strength and cricket, in general, went to a different level,” Ishant said on the Beer Biceps podcast.
“Sachin [Tendulkar] paaji used to say hope is not a word, it’s a feeling. But if you speak to Virat Kohli, the word ‘hope’ does not exist in his dictionary. His dictionary only has ‘belief’. If you have belief, you can do anything. He is so intense,” the senior pacer added.
Kohli is currently enjoying his time away from the game. He will now be seen in action during the tour of West Indies next month.
India and West Indies are scheduled to play two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is.
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