“I’m The Next Big Thing In Indian Cricket”: This Is What a 17-year-old Virat Kohli Told Allysa Healy And Ellyse Perry During Their India visit in 2005

During a series released by Hotstar in 2018 throwing light on the success stories of famous personalities in India, Virat Kohli was asked whether mega icons like him were born or made. He impulsively replied “born”.

Credit to him, despite well documented stories of the relentless hard work which he has put over the years to reach where he is today in his illustrious career, Kohli did not refrain from stating that the way he operates on a Cricket field is something that cannot be created.

He had remarked how while batting, he sometimes follows his instincts to a level where he feels there is just no negative streak in his body, and there’s just no way that a bowler could get him Out whenever that happens.

Someone who strongly believes that he is meant to be where he is today and which is not a random occurrence, a young and confident Kohli had made a bold prediction as a 17-year-old, when he had first met Australia women’s team’s two superstar cricketers.

17-year-old Virat Kohli Told Allysa Healy And Ellyse Perry that he is the next big thing in Indian Cricket

A two-year old video clip featuring Allysa Healy and her husband-cum-Australian team pacer Mitchell Starc, is doing quite some rounds across social media, where the former recollected almost a decade-old story featuring a brief moment of interaction with Virat Kohli.

As per Healy, who was sitting alongside her teammate Ellyse Perry during the time, it was Kohli who had approached them suddenly and introduced himself as the ‘next big thing in Indian Cricket’.

“Ellyse Perry and I were sitting there and this guy wandered over to us, this young Indian guy. He did not introduce himself. He said ‘hello, how are you?’ and then he said ‘I am the next big thing in Indian cricket’,” remarked Healy in the video clip. She later admitted that the guy was none other than Virat Kohli himself.

Man of his Words, Virat Kohli said “I will be next big thing in Indian team” and he is done.
believe in Virat Kohli ♥️ pic.twitter.com/HsDuahyZZx

— KT (@meownces) March 19, 2023

 

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Ravichandran Ashwin confirmed the story a couple of years ago

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, via his YouTube channel had indeed confirmed the aforementioned interaction between the three future star cricketers, which had taken place during a dinner and get-together event while a quadrangle series tournament was on.

While Healy herself could never confirm the story, she was pretty sure that it was indeed Virat Kohli who had introduced himself the way he did that day.