“Made me look like a fool”: Virat Kohli once revealed how Shane Warne troubled him during IPL 2009

Legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne was one of the best spinners to ever play the game of cricket. The leg-spinner passed away last year due to a suspected heart attack in Thailand. Warne was the first bowler in the history of cricket to surpass the mark of 700 Test wickets. The legendary spinner lived quite a controversial life off the field.

Former India captain Virat Kohli is one of the greatest batters of the current generation. Although Kohli never faced Warne in international cricket, they did play against each other in the initial seasons of the Indian Premier League. Warne used to be the captain of the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.

Kohli was also a fan of Warne, and he also mourned the death of the iconic spinner. In return, Warne was also an admirer of Kohli, and he once said that Kohli has the ability to match the greatness of Sir Vivian Richards.

Virat Kohli once revealed how Shane Warne troubled him during IPL 2009

Kohli was once doing an Instagram live session with Sunil Chhetri, captain of the Indian Football team. During the session, Chhetri asked an interesting question to Kohli. Chhetri asked Kohli if he needed three runs of the last ball to win a match, which bowler will he prefer between Warne and former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis.

Kohli had no hesitation in choosing Younis as he said that he will back himself on scoring on the yorkers. He insisted that he had faced Warne during the IPL 2009, and Warne troubled him a lot throughout the tournament.

“Firstly, Shane Warne hardly bowled during the death overs and secondly, I would believe in my ability to score off the yorkers bowled by Waqar Younis,” Kohli had said on Instagram live.

“Shane Warne made me look like a fool during IPL in 2009. I played him again in 2011 in Rajasthan, nothing significant happened there. He did not get me out, I did not score many runs against him.”

Kohli still struggles against leg spinners like Adam Zampa, Adil Rashid, etc. The leg-spinners have dismissed Kohli a total of 37 times in International cricket.

So, it is certain that facing Warne would not have been an easier task during the initial years of his career. In IPL 2009, Royal Challengers Bangalore faced Rajasthan Royals a couple of times. In one of the matches, Warne had bowled Kohli.

Virat Kohli and Shane Warne Head to Head

Kohli played a total of 28 balls against Warne across four IPL innings, where he managed to score just 16 runs at a strike-rate of 57.14. Warne managed to dismiss Kohli once in the process. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the leg-spinner certainly had an edge over the Indian batter in whatever little they played against one another.