Indian veteran pacer Ishant Sharma spoke about the evolution process of the Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli over the years in International Cricket. The 34-year-old has been a massive contributor to Indian cricket over the last decade and a half in Cricket.
Virat Kohli has been serving the game for the past decade and continuing to dominate the game in this era, inspiring millions of youngsters to take up the game. He scored 75 centuries and 130 fifties in International Cricket, producing some remarkable performances for the Men in Blue.
Both Ishant And Kohli have come a long way since playing domestic cricket together for Delhi to represent the country at the highest level. Speaking on Virat Kohli’s younger days to Ranveer Allahbadia on his Youtube Channel, Ishant Sharma said that once during a U-19 match in Kolkata, the star batter partied all night just before coming out to score 25o runs on the next day and hailed him for working on his fitness starting from 2012 to take his game to a different level altogether.
“We were playing a U-19 match in Kolkata. He was batting overnight, yet partied all night and the next day he scored 250. I have seen that phase of Kohli as well. The best thing about him, according to me, is how he changed his physical aspect starting in 2012, after the World Cup. He was training, but because of his diet, his mental strength and cricket, in general, went to a different level,” Ishant Sharma said.
Kohli played exceptionally well for the Indian team over the years playing some memorable knocks for the Indian team in big games. He has been one of the greatest batters of this era as he scored runs all around the globe and established himself as one of the modern-day greats in cricket and continuing his form in International Cricket.
If You Have Belief, You Can Do Anything – Ishant Sharma
Ishant Sharma revealed that there is no word of hope exists in the dictionary of the ace Indian batter Virat Kohli, as his dictionary has only belief in it and added that he always believes that he can do anything on the field, as he plays the game with a lot of heart in it.
“Sachin [Tendulkar] paaji used to say hope is not a word, it’s a feeling. But if you speak to Virat Kohli, the word ‘hope’ does not exist in his dictionary. His dictionary only has ‘belief’. If you have belief, you can do anything. He is so intense,” Ishant Sharma added.
Post 2019, Virat Kohli’s form in International Cricket has dipped a bit, as he struggled to get going in all three formats of the games, but the experienced Indian batter made a stunning comeback to form during the Asia Cup 2022, playing some vital knocks for the Indian team in all three formats of the game in 2023 so far.