“I used to love the sport so much”: Unlike his friends, Virat Kohli used to face angry neighbours but never fled leaving bat and stumps behind

Akin most kids who have grown up in India playing Cricket in the narrow lanes surrounded by houses, former India skipper Virat Kohli too had begun his cricketing journey in a similar fashion, near his house in Delhi alongside his group of friends.

Interestingly, Kohli used to play along with people senior than him in these lanes and nearby parks. A child prodigy that he was, his father then decided to enroll him in a Cricket academy under the renowned coach Rajkumar Sharma, and the rest as they say is history.

Going on to become one of the best batters to have played the sport, Kohli still has these childhood memories afresh when he had this knack of breaking the window panes of the houses in his neighborhood – something which is quite relatable for people who have played, what is popularly known as the ‘Gully Cricket’.

Virat Kohli used to face angry neighbours

Unfortunately, he was the one who, more often than not would face the ire of his neighbors after their window panes would break into pieces regardless of anyone who would play the shot.

Not because he was made the scapegoat for being the most junior in the group, but simply because of his love and respect for the sport and its equipment. He would repeatedly face his angry neighbours, but would leave the place only after he’d collect the bat and the stumps. All he would think of at that moment was, that he had to play the next day as well, and thus could not afford to lose the equipment at any cost.

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“I used to play with all these seniors and when the windows used to break, they all used to run away and most of the times I was the one left behind because I used to love the sport so much, that I could not leave the stumps and the bat behind in the park.

So I was the one eventually collecting all the things and running back to the house, and by the time I would get caught. While the others didn’t care about it. They just took the ball in hand and went home. And I was the one making sure we don’t lose this stuff to be able to play the next day again or on the weekend again,” remarked Kohli in a documentary titled ‘Mega Icons‘, released by Hotstar in 2018.

Despite his father’s demise, Kohli would still play the Ranji Trophy match the very next day

His dedication towards the sport can further be attested from the fact that how, despite his father passing away right in front of his eyes, he had the courage to pick himself up and play a crucial knock for the his team the very next day.

Read more about the incident and the knock which followed the next day, by clicking here.