The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli is regarded as the modern legend of cricket. He is an inspiration to millions of people out there, who consider him as their role model. However, the journey to becoming the greatest wasn’t an easy one, he has faced his share of struggles.
Recently, during an Instagram live session with the Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri, Virat recalled a very heart-touching incident involving his father. Virat revealed how his father had refused to bribe a cricket official, which eventually led to Virat Kohli not getting selected in the team despite fulfilling all the merit criteria. He revealed:
“I have mentioned this before also. There was a time when in state cricket, a lot of things happen, you know (there are) many factors which are not fair, There was an opportunity, where a certain someone chose to step out of the rules and say, ‘here’s the situation you’d need a bit more than just merit to get selected’,”
Furthermore, Virat Kohli shared how his father Prem was someone who worked really hard and made a living for himself by studying “under the streetlights”. He revealed:
“He is the guy who studied under the streetlights, those were the circumstances at his home. From there he worked hard to become a lawyer, worked in the merchant navy as well before that. One who has worked hard doesn’t understand that language. He didn’t understand what was going on,”
He added:
“He said to my coach, ‘if he (Virat) can play on his merit, then fine else we do not want to play him. I won’t do all this’.
Virat revealed how he broke down when he was not selected in the team on a merit basis. He revealed:
“And I was not selected and I cried a lot, I was broken,”
He added:
“But that taught me something that this is how the world is run. If you want to progress do something that no one else is doing. That lesson he gave me because you can only rely on your hard work and that I saw from my father who made a living, made a life for himself, and gave me the right teachings by actions.”
