Happy Birthday, Virat

 

Happy Birthday, Virat

 

On the occasion of Virat’s birthday, here comes 3 trivia for his millions of fans worldwide.  

1.        First contested in 1988, as the Youth World Cup, the competition was later rebranded as the ICC Under-19 World Cup. The 2008 edition was hosted by Malaysia from 17^th February to 2^nd March. During the promotional video for the tournament, Virat Kohli is seen describing himself as a ‘quick bowler’, although he didn’t have any prior experience of delivering with the new ball, nor had he shown any inclination in becoming a pacer. But as a bowler, Virat has a pretty envious record in cricket history.

  

It was 2011. After becoming the first country to win the ICC 50-Overs World Cup on home soil, India went to England for a tour. Humiliated by a margin of 4-0 in the Test series, India was scheduled to play just one T20I at Old Trafford, before the ODI series. Virat, not part of the Test team back then, had joined the contingent for the limited-overs leg. Riding on debutant Rahul ‘The Wall’ Dravid’s 31 (consisting 3 back-to-back sixes) and Suresh Raina’s quickfire 33, the visitors managed to put a highly competitive 170 on the board. In response, the hosts got off to a flier, piling up 58 runs in the first six overs itself. 

 

With England needing 110 from 78 balls, MSD instinctively threw the ball to Virat. Kevin Pietersen, seeing the greenhorn in the attack, decided to give him the charge. Guessing the intention, Virat bowled it wide and Dhoni did the rest. Pietersen was found outside his crease and Virat had pocketed a wicket, albeit, off a wide delivery.

He thus became the first bowler to take a wicket off his zeroth delivery of his T20I career.

2.        The 2008 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was won by India. Captained by Virat, India defeated the South African team in the all important final match by 12 runs via the D/L Method. 

 

A lot of youngsters from that victorious team, including Ravindra Jadeja, Manish Pandey, Shreevats Goswami and Saurabh Tiwary, were put into a draft to be picked up by the franchises during the auction for the inaugural IPL. The franchises were allotted numbers, from 1 to 8, at random. The franchisee, assigned number 1, was supposed to be given the first chance to pick their player of choice from that pool. Then, following the sequence, franchisee number 2 could select their player.

 

As luck would have it, Virat’s ‘home’ team Delhi had been allotted the first pick. Surprising everyone, they didn’t pick the leader of the pack, but instead went for Pradeep Sangwan. The Bangalore team, who were next, had a pretty easy choice to make. And thus, Virat became a part of the RCB family.

 

Till date, he is the only player to play for the same team in every IPL. 

3.        Sachin Tendulkar has always been Virat’s favourite player. Virat later recalled many times about a certain incident involving Sachin. After winning the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup, while the team were celebrating in the dressing room, Sachin  called him to congratulate on his achievement. Coach Rajkumar Sharma says, “It was the first time, he was talking to him, and the kind words from Tendulkar sent him into the raptures. He couldn’t speak for first two minutes but later he was jubilant.”

 

Interestingly, Virat was at the other end during Sachin’s last ODI innings. Playing Pakistan at the Asia Cup 2012 in Dhaka, the duo had stitched a 133-run partnership that helped India recover in their run-chase of 330. Though Sachin was dismissed for 52, Virat went on to score a majestic 183 in just 148 balls, in that match-winning cause.

 

Moreover, Virat was the batsman who replaced his idol after Sachin was dismissed during his final Test innings against West Indies in Mumbai. As he left the field, waving good bye, Virat waited patiently at the boundary and applauded him before entering the field of play. 

   

After India won the World Cup 2011, his reverence for Sachin was evident when he said, “He’s carried the burden of the nation for 21 years. It’s time we carried him on our shoulders.”