3 times Virat Kohli gave us a glimpse of different facets of his personality beyond a cricketer

Virat Kohli is undoubtedly one of the greatest batsmen to have graced the game of cricket.

His record across all three formats of the game speaks for itself. The Indian skipper has 7490 runs to his name, in 91 Tests. He has an average of 52.37 with 27 Test hundreds. Kohli’s record in ODIs is even more incredible with 12169 runs in 254 matches. His average in ODIs is 59.07 with 43 hundred.

The captain of the national team is yet to reach three figures in T20Is. But in the shortest format of the game, he has an excellent record. Virat Kohli has smashed 3159 runs in 90 T20Is. He has a strike rate of 139.04 and an average of 52.65.

The 32-year-old, cricketer, has often been termed as brash and over-aggressive. However, there are various pleasing facets to his personality that we don’t get a glimpse of often.

Virat Kohli : The crowd pleaser

He is no doubt a crowd-pleaser. Kohli loves interacting with the crowd and getting the fans at the stadium involved at the moment. The most recent examples were witnessed in Chennai earlier this year during the second day of the second Test against England.

The Indian team was in the field and he whistled to the Chepauk crowd present at the stadium. He asked them to make some noise and cheer for the home team using that gesture. The level of cheer in the stadium rose immediately as Kohli did the whistle act and gestured towards the fans.

Virat Kohli : The romantic hero

Most cricket fans, remember Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting blowing a kiss to his wife. He did it after completing a double century against India during the 2003 Adelaide Test. It was never expected from an Indian cricketer to do something as romantic. That was until Virat Kohli did something similar for his now wife Anushka Sharma.

Back in 2014, in Hyderabad, during an ODI against Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli sent a kiss towards Anushka Sharma, who was in the stands. He did it after completing his half-century. As the cameras captured her reaction to his romantic gesture, the actress let out a shy smile.

Anushka’s presence proved to be lucky for him. Virat Kohli became the fastest cricketer to reach 6000 runs in ODIs. Virat Kohli has repeated the flying kiss act a couple of more times since. The fans have enjoyed the glimpse of Virat Kohli’s romantic side on each occasion.

The couple is now happily married and was blessed with a daughter earlier this year.

Virat Kohli : The ultimate sportsman

Nothing can beat Virat Kohli’s sporting gesture for Australian cricket legend Steve Smith during the 2019 World Cup in London. Smith had just returned to cricket, after serving his ball-tampering ban. He was being booed by the Indian crowd while he was serving at the boundary.

Virat Kohli was unhappy with the crowd’s reaction. He gestured in their direction and asked them to clap for Smith instead of booing him. His gesture of sportsmanship was well appreciated. Smith had later gone up to him and patted his back and shook hands. Virat Kohli’s gesture was recognized by the International Cricket Council(ICC) with the Spirit of Cricket Award.

In the current era, both Virat Kohli and Smith are rated among the best batsmen in all three formats of cricket.

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