Virat Kohli says no to Chole Puri, relishes Kadhi Chawal with Delhi mates; here’s how India star spent day 1 at Kotla | Mint

It was a homecoming for Virat Kohli when the former India captain entered the Arun Jaitley Stadium through the Virender Sehwag gate on a winter Tuesday morning. Save for pacer Navdeep Saini, all the remaining 18 members of the Delhi squad have grown watching Virat Kohli on television as the batting mestro donned the state jersey for the first time after 13 years. The last time Virat Kohli played a Ranji Trophy game for Delhi was back in 2012.

In the last 13 years, Virat Kohli has become the most viable commercial brand in cricket globally. In fact, he was presented as the face by the ICC in their Olympics bid presentation.

The 36-year-old was the cynosure of all eyes on the ground as he trained with the side for three hours. He was also seen having a brief chat with his former U-19 coach Mahesh Bhatti, who is the manager of the Delhi side. “Woh badlaa nahi hain,” a senior Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) official told PTI.

“Usko chhole-poori pasand the aur humne mangaake rakhha thaa. Usne bola chole puri nahi khawoonga (He loves chhole poori, we made arrangements for him but he said he didn’t want it),” he added.

Interestingly, after practice, Virat Kohli had his favourite dish – Kadhi Chawal – with the rest of his teammates. “Practice ke baad purane time ki tarah kadhi chawal khaya sabke saath (He had kadhi chawal with everyone),” revealed the official.

How Virat Kohli’s day 1 in training looked like?

Ahead of the inconsequential game against Railways, the whole team warmed up for a good 35-minutes. In fact, this was the longest time Delhi spent on warm-ups this season. Post that, there was a 15-minute football game before Virat Kohli and Co. had some sprints.

At the nets, Virat Kohli was business as usual with the game face on. Along with captain Ayush Badoni, Virat Kohli went up to the nets and told his skipper “yush tu batting karle, phir dono switch karke karenge (Ayush you keep batting. After sometime, we will take turns to bat.)”

The stylish right-hander spent close to an hour at the nets. He started by taking a few throw-downs where he kept practicing the pull shots. Once done with knocking, Virat Kohli went to the spinners’ nets, facing the likes of Harsh Tyagi and Sumit Mathur.

Of late Virat Kohli had troubles against deliveries on the off-side. The batting stalwart left a few deliveries as he looked at ease at the nets. He was seen trying to play a lot beside the line of deliveries. In fact, Virat Kohli expressed happiness with the nature of the wickets and told Bhatti that he will be coming the next day to bat again.

Virat Kohli’s chat with little Kabir

The wholesome moment of the day when a fourth-standard student Kabir came to Virat Kohli with a sketch of the former captain. Incidentally, Kabir is the son of Shavez, who was Virat Kohli’s teammate when the duo played for Delhi U-17 and U-19s.

He autographed Kabir’s sketch and also had a laughter with Shavez, probably recalling their younger days. When Kabir was asked about his conversation with Kohli, he said: “I asked him how can I play for India? He said, ‘You have to practice hard. And it shouldn’t be your Papa telling you to go to practice. You should tell Papa, I have to go to practice’.”

Virat Kohli’s message to Delhi teammates

Like a brother, Virat Kohli tried to boost their morale. With just one win, two losses and three draws, Delhi are lying sixth with 14 points from six matches. Referring to their inconsistent season, Virat Kohli said, “Delhiwaale ho, dum dikhao. Shuruat accha kiya phir thande padh gaye. Positive khelo jaise Delhiwaale khelte hain (You belong to Delhi, show some power. You guys started well but then lost your way. Play positive like the way Delhi always do).”