There isn’t enough swooning when that name comes up!
Virat Kohli isn’t just one of the most talked about names in the cricket world, he just the most handsome face to walk this earth. He is also a man with a golden heart.
Virat Kohli was trained by coach Rajkumar Sharma since the inception of West Delhi Cricket Academy, founded by him in the year 1998. Virat has been ever grateful for the contribution of coach Rajkumar in his life.Â
Sports journalist Vijay Lokapally’s book called ‘Driven’ recalls an incident, where Virat decided to gift something really thoughtful to thank his coach on Teacher’s Day, in the year 2014. This is what he wrote.Â
“I answered the bell and found Vikas (Kohli’s elder brother) at the door,” said Raj Kumar.
“His brother’s arrival at his house so early in the day was cause for concern. Vikas stepped into the house, dialled a number and handed his cell phone to Raj Kumar. ‘Happy teacher’s Day Sir,’ said Virat, even as Vikas thrust something into Rajkumar’s palms — a bunch of keys.
“Rajkumar stood perplexed as Vikas requested him to step out of his house. A gleaming Skoda Rapid was parked at the gate — a gift from Virat to his mentor.”
“It was not merely because he had gifted me the car. It was because of his emotional touch to the process of reminding me how much he treasured our association, and valued the role of a teacher in his life.”
There is one more incident that has resurfaced about how Viral Kohli got his name Chikoo. So apparently, it’s the same Chikoo from comic book series ‘Champak’!
A book written on all Indian Test Captains tells the story of how Virat got his name Chikoo. The author writes,
“The Delhi team was playing Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai. Virat has not even played a total of 10 first-class matches.
He was a part of set-up that included players he had looked up to — (Virender) Sehwag, (Gautam) Gambhir, (Rajat) Bhatia and (Mithun) Manhas. He was more than happy to be sharing dressing room with them.
“One evening, he returned to the hotel with his hair nicely cropped. He has spotted a fancy hair salon close by and given himself a new look.
‘How is it?’ he asked excitedly as he ran into a couple of younger colleagues.
‘Not bad, you look like a Chikoo (Sapodilla),” joked Ajit Chowdhary, the assistant coach looking from a distance.
“The name stuck. Chikoo. Virat didn’t mind it all.”
Can’t help but love this guy.Â
I know I am definitely not the only one here.
News Source: NDTV Sports