Even as his fans consider Virat Kohli as arguably the greatest batsman of all time, and him being one of the richest athletes in the world, the Delhi-born has his feet firmly on the ground, and doesn’t mind not sitting in a first-class seat on a flight.
As Team India traveled from Kolkata to Bangalore after their dominating win over South Africa, Virat Kohli took the economy class seat in the Indigo flight and sat alongside other passengers. For someone who travels in luxurious planes and in business and first-class seats, this one wasn’t a usual event for Virat Kohli to travel in economy class. But there were no complaints from the 34-year-old cricketer.
As soon as fans saw Virat Kohli in the flight, they plucked out their cellphones to capture a glimpse of the batsman who has just equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 49 hundreds in ODI cricket.
A clip of Kohli, wearing a black and white striped t-shirt, a cap and a mask, seating in the economy class seat in an Indigo flight from Kolkata to Bangalore, has gone viral on social media.
Watch: Virat Kohli takes economy class seat in Indigo flight
Virat this morning. Indigo Flight to Bangalore. #ViratKohli𓃵 #viratbirthday pic.twitter.com/cwSBRGcRIu
— Dheeraj (@dheeruutweets) November 6, 2023
Meanwhile, Kohli’s century, his 49th in ODIs, helped India post a total of 326 runs on a tough Kolkata pitch on which South Africa bundled out for only 83 runs. India sealed their place at the top of the points table in the World Cup 2023.
In the post-match presentation, Virat Kohli said he had sensed in the morning that it was going to be his day.
Kohli said, “It was a big game. We were probably playing the toughest team in the tournament that we had played so far, to be honest. They played some amazing cricket. There was this motivation of wanting to do well for the team. Because it happened on my birthday, people made it a bit more special for me. I had this sense of ‘it’s going to be something more today’ rather than ‘it’s just one more game in the World Cup’. I did wake up with that excitement, yes.”
India’s next game is on Sunday against the Netherlands in Bangalore.
