Every young batter gets excited whenever they get a chance to meet Virat Kohli, and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Saurav Chauhan hasn’t been someone different. He looked back at his first interaction with the former captain of the franchise during the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League.
Saurav Chauhan was playing his maiden season in the tournament, and that was why he was a little bit nervous when he found Kohli in the same dressing room of RCB. He has featured in three games for the team, collecting 18 runs at a strike rate of over 120.
During a recent appearance on Ishan Joshi’s podcast, the 24-year-old shared the initial of playing for the RCB earlier this year. His debut game wasn’t very pleasing on the field, but he made a lot of fond memories off the field.
“I always wanted to play with him. If you see, he was batting in the middle when I came out to bat on my IPL debut. It was a completely different feeling.” Saurav Chauhan expressed in the podcast.
Playing for the Gujarat side, the Ahmedabad-born has notched up 225 runs in six games at an average of 25 and a strike rate of nearly 70, shouldering on a couple of half-centuries with a best score of 73. In 13 List-A encounters, the left-handed batter has collected 476 runs in 13 innings at an average of 43 and a strike rate of over 116, with the help of two fifties and two centuries.
“Just one or two days before I left for IPL, I had been thinking about what I’ll do when I meet him, I even thought about the things I’ll discuss with him.” Saurav Chauhan added.
When it comes to the shortest format of the game, the youngster has clubbed 482 runs in 22 innings at an average of 25.36 and a strike rate of over 150, with the help of four half-centuries at a best score of unbeaten 84 runs.
“Took me two weeks to have a conversation with Virat Kohli”- Saurav Chauhan
The top order batter mentioned how he prepared himself for nearly two weeks before meeting Kohli himself walked up to him, and started the conversation.
“So, the first time I met him was in the dressing room. He came and sat at his place. I kept staring at him for 5 minutes. He saw me and even smiled at me, but I kept gazing at him. Then, he came to meet me. So, at that time, I was like ‘Wow, Virat has started the conversation with me.‘ I was over the moon.” Saurav Chauhan noted during the conversation.
But, the 24-year-old also elaborated that it was hard for him to start the meeting with Kohli, but once he broke the ice, it eventually became quite easy to gel with him, and he received so much good advice from the batter besides having a lot of fun.
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“It took me 2 weeks to prepare myself to have a conversation with Virat Kohli. Finally, when I spoke with him, he was the complete opposite of what we generally see about him on TV and social media. He made me so comfortable. He spent more time with us youngsters, and we all had a lot of fun.” Saurav Chauhan highlighted this during the discussion.
The IPL 2025 Mega auction is approaching, and the teams have found a deadline of October 31 to announce the retention list. It will be interesting to see if the franchise keeps the top-order batter as an uncapped player for the new edition.