I had no clue that Shami’s daughter was in the hospital: Virat Kohli
Oct 13, 2016 at 9:29 AM
Indian Test captain Virat Kohli has revealed that he had no clue about Mohammad Shami’s ailing daughter who was admitted in ICU while the bowler was playing for India against New Zealand during the second Test at Eden Gardens.
On the very second day of the Test, Shami’s 14-month-old daughter Aira fell critically ill. The baby’s condition worsened half-an-hour later when she was struggling to breathe properly and had to be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a city hospital. Shami had to juggle between visiting his daughter every day after the end of the match and return to the team hotel in the night but he chose not to inform his teammates about the situation and played an instrumental role in India’s victory.
When Kohli was asked about Shami after his team won the third Test , he said: “He (Shami) is someone who is a character in the change room. On the field you won’t see him coming out in the open and expressing himself too much. But he is someone everyone loves in the team. He is someone everyone gets along with. Whatever might be happening with him, we won’t know. I had no clue that his daughter was in the hospital. He told us after.”
The man who pushes us to keep trying harder everytime we step on the field. @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/4kXSMuELr9
— 𝕸𝖔𝖍𝖆𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖉 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖒𝖎 (@MdShami11) October 11, 2016
Praising Shami for his dedication, Kohli said that the bowler is a very “likeable” character in the changing room.
“He is a guy who comes on to the field and gives everything. He just needs a bit of motivation every now and then, which every fast bowler does in conditions that we have. Skill-wise there is no doubt that he is a top bowler. He has a knack of picking up wickets. Even on this wicket (Indore), he created quite a few chances, so does Umesh (Yadav). Shami is just like any normal guy of his age. It is just that he is not expressive on the field. He is very likeable character in the change room and among the team members,” he added.