New Delhi: Early every morning, Pankaj Mahindru, 51, would fetch newspapers from his gate at west Delhi’s LIC colony in Jeevan Niketan, Paschim Vihar. It would be just around 6 am, but across from his home, he would often see a budding cricketer get into his WagonR with a cricket kit.
For a year, Mahindru saw the youngster’s routine, but only found out who he was when he led India to victory in the U-19 World Cup final in Kuala Lumpur in 2008. The cricketer Mahindru and his neighbourhood became aware of as a big talent was none other than Virat Kohli, who on Monday announced his Test retirement after building a lasting legacy that transcends statistics.
What the numbers and accolades don’t show is the journey of a boy from West Delhi who spent most of his formative years in Paschim Vihar and the streets around it, until he shot into national and international stardom.
“Virat moved to the LIC colony in 2007 and he lived here till 2013, before moving to Meera Bagh, also in Paschim Vihar,” said Mahindru, pointing to the ground floor of house G-114, opposite to his home. “In the early days, barely anyone in the neighbourhood knew about him. But one thing I noticed was that he was extremely punctual.”
“He would come to our house often. He had a special love for food – most notably biryani and chole bhature,” Mahindru said. His wife Indu said days before the 2011 Cricket World Cup final, Kohli – ‘Cheeku’ to those close to him – was just as approachable.
“When he came back after the victory, we all had a cake for him,” she remembers, sharing the signed memorabilia which is kept locked up by the family.
Kohli’s love for cricket was spotted as a boy. He joined West Delhi Cricket Academy in Paschim Vihar in 1998, coming under the tutelage of his long-term coach Rajkumar Sharma.
Sharma said Kohli knew how to balance eating out and practicing hard. “We started this academy in May 1998 and Virat was part of the first batch enrolled,” he told HT at his academy.
Kohli would spend over four hours a day at the academy, before heading to a gym nearby. “Most of his formative years were spent in Paschim Vihar. His school was nearby. He would spend a lot of time in the nets,” Sharma said.
On Monday too, hundreds of young cricketers were at the academy, training to become the next Kohli. Among them was Aryaveer, 15, Kohli’s nephew. “Chachu is a big inspiration for us all here. Everyone here watches his matches closely, the way he plays,” said the aspiring bowling all-rounder, who is the son of Kohli’s elder brother Vikas.
Paschim Vihar’s Vishal Bharti Public School is where he studied from class three to nine. Former principal Geeta Sehgal recalls the adorable boy with chubby cheeks. “His passion for cricket was noticed as early as in class four. He was a formidable bat even then,” she told HT.
Among Kohli’s favourite food haunts was Rama Chole Bhature on Jail Road. The manager Surinder Singh, 67, recalled that Kohli came on Mondays. “Of course, with the crowd we see, we would not immediately recognise him, but this was like a cheat meal,” he said.
