XtraTime Web Desk: Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli is the pillar of the team in all three formats of the game. His swiftness on the field and his fitness level is the talking points of many as well. But while starting his journey with the Indian team things were a lot different. The current heartthrob of Indian cricket opened up about his first “nerve-wracking” day in the dressing room.
The Delhi boy made his debut back in 2008 against Sri Lanka. After winning the U19 World Cup in 2008 the selectors picked him for the national team in the same year against Sri Lanka. While taking with Times of India, Kohli told that after listening to the news that he has been picked in the squad he thought that it was nothing but a rumour.
“I clearly remember sitting with my mom and watching the news on the day of the selection meeting. My name just flashed on the TV but I thought they might just be spreading a rumour or something like that. Then five minutes later, I got a call from the Board that I had been selected. I got goosebumps. I was shaking. It was a very special day,” Kohli said.
“I clearly remember walking into the team meeting. I was asked to give a speech in the team room. It was nerve-wracking for me with so many great Indian players there. They were looking at me. Which we now do to younger guys to intimidate them, make them nervous (smiles). These are my first memories,” he added.
Kohli also revealed that he would find out time for cricket even during his board exams. He further added that he played a lot of cricket or badminton when he was young because it gave him immense joy.
“I did not know then that I was going to be a professional cricketer. I used to watch sports on TV and try and replicate the moves. To save money, we used to create our own courts using tapes, and hammer nails into the ground to mark them out. That used to give us a lot of happiness. And that’s the key thing to find,” added Kohli.
On being asked about his supreme fitness, Virat said,”My reason was totally different. It had to do with playing at a certain level in professional sport. I realised in the process that when I started getting fitter, I started thinking better. I had more confidence, clarity, focus and determination. And I started feeling that inside me as soon as I changed my physical regime. That’s when I began to think that everybody should be doing this. Getting fitter makes you confident overall. It makes you feel good about yourself. You need to feel good to have good thoughts. And then came about this idea of pushing people towards fitness to make them understand why this is so important,”.