'Lamba khelna hai, out nahi hona hai' - Former teammate recalls Virat Kohli's fighting knock on day of father's demise
Virat Kohli was 18 when he lost his father.
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Indian stalwart Virat Kohli will be playing his 100th Test match as he will take the field in the first Test match to be played between India and Sri Lanka starting from March 4. Ahead of his milestone game, Punit Bisht a former Ranji Trophy teammate of Kohli’s recalled that morning of 2006 which still remains one of the toughest days for the former Indian captain.
It was Day 3 of Delhi’s Ranji Trophy game against Karnataka. Wicketkeeper-batter Punit (then 19 years) who was at the crease with Kohli at the end of Day 2 entered the dressing room having the thought of reviving his team chances after a poor start in the first innings. However, as soon as he entered there was a pin drop silence in the dressing room.
Kohli, then a 17-year old boy, was sitting in a corner of the room with tears filled in his eyes. The young batter had lost his father, who suffered a brain stroke just a couple of hours back.
“To this day I wonder, how in the world did he muster the courage to drop in at the ground. We were all numb at his tragedy and here the boy was standing in the dressing room and ready to go out and bat,” Punit was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Showing grit, the right-handed batter played a fantastic knock of 90 runs using 238 balls in the process while Punit also scored 156 off 283 as the pair stitched a phenomenal 152-run stand. Even though their team failed to take a first-innings lead, the match had eventually ended as a draw.
Captain and coach told Virat Kohli to go home: Punit Bisht
The wicketkeeper-batter also recalled how then Delhi captain Mithun Manhas and coach Chetan Chauhan had told Virat to go home.”Chetan sir, if memory doesn’t serve me wrong, was our coach that season. Both Chetan sir and Mithun bhai told Virat to go home as they were not sure whether it would be a prudent idea to let the kid go out there in a tense situation.
“Virat was in a zone during those hours. I think for those few hours, he had stopped reacting to grief and showed grit like never before. He played some lovely flicks and his signature cover drive. We had very little conversation. He would just come and say, ‘lamba khelna hai, out nahi hona hai’.” added Punit.
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