Team India Skipper Virat Kohli in association with Chairman of the RP-SG Group Sanjiv Goenka has launched the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Indian Sports Honours which will honour sportsperson who will excel in the field of sports at different categories. The awards will also help the sportsmen to realise their potential and will also allow them to get scholarships and organisers.
The duo of Kohli and Goenka have started this joint venture to honour the exceptional performances in the field of sports in the country in line with their aim to support the development of Indian Sports. Individuals will be rewarded with scholarships who have undertaken necessary steps for the betterment and promotion of sports at the grassroots level.
The Virat Kohli Foundation has also pledged to donate a minimum of Rs. 2 crores per year on the beneficiaries of scholarships. The progress of the shortlisted candidates will be monitored throughout the year.
Kohli has been in a sensational form both as a player and a captain as he led India to a historic 9-0 triumph across formats in Sri Lanka. India defeated the Islanders 3-0 in the Test series and followed it up with a 5-0 thrashing in the ODI series. They also won the lone T20I held in Colombo. Virat Kohli was in exceptional form and looked in red hit form across formats.
He scored 161 runs in the Test series and followed it up with 330 in the ODI series. He also played a match winning knock of 82 of 54 balls in the solitary T0I to help India keep the 100% record on tour. Kohli who has taken giant strides in international cricket in the last few years spoke at length to renowned Journalist of India Today Boria Majumdar regarding his evolution and gradual rise as a cricketer.
The Indian captain also stated that cricket has taught him more than any lessons in his life and cricket has been the only source which has given him the energy. It gives him immense pleasure to face the challenges thrown at him on a regular basis.
“I don’t think anything apart from cricket has taught me more in life. I don’t think any educational degree would have taught me more in life than the sport has. It throws you to the ground, it urges you to get up, it tests you all the time, it observes you whether you have it in you to play for 15-20 years. Whether you have it in you on a daily basis. You’ll be thrown challenges on a regular basis. It’s not only about the big series or just happening once in two or three years.
“Playing cricket in this country is a challenge on a daily basis and you have to deal with those expectations not just of people only but your own expectations as well. If you have set standards for yourself you need to keep achieving them. And you need to keep exceeding them every time. That’s how you stay ahead of the game. I still continue to grow as a person on a daily basis. You learn only by making mistakes and this sport will urge you to make mistakes. If you are good enough to learn from them then the sport gives you back and you can be on your journey,” Kohli said.
Regarding self-doubts and tough times in the game, Kohli said it is part and parcel of the game, and it is the setbacks which help an individual to learn more and come out stronger.
“There are no guarantees in sports, nothing is given to you on a platter. Tough times do come but if you can look at tough times in a way that they are here to teach me something and I’m going to become a better person and a better cricketer out of this if I’m able to go through this. And the only way you can go through that is when you have a routine on a daily basis where you are giving your 120% and your answerable to no one. I worked on that aspect of my life. I work hard which won’t be visible to people on a daily basis. To me criticism and praise is the same, it doesn’t matter to me whether people praise me or they criticise me because it does not deviate me from what I need to do on a daily basis and that’s to work hard.
I have total responsibility of my failures and I respect my success equally. Because I have such a set routine on a daily basis I don’t need to go out there and explain anything to anyone. That’s something that has just developed inside me not in an arrogant way but I just don’t find the need to. I just don’t feel like my life or my career or anything that I do should be or is controlled by people in any way. I don’t let people define who I am or how I need to live life in any way possible and that can only happen when you’re so sure of what you need to do on a daily basis,” Kohli signed off.