The upcoming match between the Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2023 is set to be a “homecoming” of sorts for former RCB captain Virat Kohli. The game is scheduled to take place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, which is also Kohli’s home ground and has a ‘Virat Kohli Pavilion’.
Kohli, along with his wife Anushka Sharma, has already arrived in Delhi ahead of this highly-anticipated game. On Wednesday, the couple visited the French Embassy and later met with Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma, his childhood friend Shalaj Sondhi, and his mother Neha Sondhi.
The official social media account of RCB has posted a “behind-the-scenes” video of the meeting, in which Neha Sondhi reminisced about how Kohli once told her that he would one day marry a “heroine.” She recalled an incident when they were at the Madan Lal Academy, and Kohli saw a poster of a film or an ad outside the venue. He said to her, “Dekhna main ek din itna bada aadmi banoonga aur kisi heroine se shaadi karoonga” (One day, I will become such a big man and marry a heroine).
Meanwhile, Kohli’s former coach Rajkumar remembered the day when the young Virat first came to train with him nearly 25 years ago. He said that within a few days, he could see that Kohli was very different from others, very active, hyper, and a determined and dedicated individual who wanted to dominate from day one. He also mentioned that Shalaj and Virat were close friends from his academy.
Here’s the video:
Stories from Virat Kohli’s childhood in Delhi
We met Virat’s first coach Rajkumar Sharma, childhood friend Shalaj & his mother, and they tell us beautiful unheard anecdotes from Virat’s early days as a budding cricketer in Delhi, on @HombaleFilms brings to you Bold Diaries.… pic.twitter.com/wzbpeoTxfu
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) May 5, 2023
The upcoming match at Kohli’s home ground, where he began his cricketing journey, is sure to be an emotional one for the cricketing superstar, and his fans will be eager to see him perform well. The match is also significant for both teams as they battle for a spot in the playoffs.