Delhi`s domestic players heaped praise on Team India stalwart Virat Kohli, who recently made his appearance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches.
The tournament had started on December 23, with the title clash scheduled to be played on January 18.
Virat`s last appearance in the tournament dates back to 2010. He accumulated 77 runs for Delhi in the match against Gujarat, and later smashed 131 against Andhra Pradesh in the second game.
Delhi`s pacer Navdeep Saini shared an incident in which Virat, who usually sits in the front row of the team bus, came back to sit with his domestic teammates. The pacer also added that all the players conducted interesting conversations with the stalwart.
“I will tell you about an incident in the Team bus. As usual, bhaiya (Virat Kohli) sits in the front row. So, we had left the spot vacant for him on the first practice day, and we sat towards the back of the bus like backbenchers. However, he came and sat at the back with us, and we were really happy to see him. Then we had interesting conversations, and everyone enjoyed,” said Saini, who has shared the dressing with Kohli during his stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
All-rounder Rohan Rana then revealed the advice given to the Delhi team by Kohli.
“Virat bhaiya`s advice was to take domestics seriously. He said this is the platform that helps you reach higher, and don`t take it casually. He said if you`re on the field, always give 200%. And that is exactly what he himself did: he inspired us by putting in so much effort in a domestic match,” he said.
The 37-year-old cricketer has been enjoying his rich vein of form. He has been a run machine for the “Men in Blue” in the One-Day Internationals (ODIs).
Currently, he is busy featuring in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand. Considering Virat and Rohit Sharma`s age, questions often raise about their participation in the ODI World Cup 2027. Several fans and former cricketers are hopeful that the two bigwigs of Indian cricket continue to play until the global tournament in 2027.
(With ANI Inputs)
