Virat Kohli talked about exchanging friendly taunts with Ishant Sharma in his first IPL match in 2008. He also mentioned feeling the tremendous pressure of playing in front of a large crowd.
Virat Kohli recently recalled his joke with Ishant Sharma at the inauguration of the 2008 Indian Premier League, where Royal Challenger Bengaluru (RCB) plays the Kolkata Cavaliers Riders (KKR). Kohli revealed that Ishant rode high on the Australian tour with confidence and brought a new hairstyle trying to ricket with a sled, but Kohli immediately took it back, emphasizing that it was all fun.
Brendon McCullum’s incredible 158 helped KKR set a lofty goal of 222/3 in the game, which was played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. RCB had only 82 runs after answering staggeringly. RCB captain Rahul Dravid was rejected by Ishant before the second time, leaving an early impression. Kohli was third, and he took several delivery from Ishant, but Ashok Dinda could only beat him with five goals.
“He (Ishant) is sledding, like, seriously,” Coley said in an interview with Jiohotstar on the show ’18’. “He just came from Australia and got a new hair color and he was kind of like a ‘star’. I said, my tereko batata hu mai (come aside, I’ll tell you). But it’s all fun and there’s a lot of pressure in the game. I feel like, I’ve never played on one person. There are a lot of people there,” he added.
Kohli stressed that the game was a turning point in his career, giving him a deep understanding of the incredible stress and impact that the crowd had.
“I’ve never played in a crowd like this or an environment like this,” he said of Chinnaswamy Stadium. “But the most interesting part I’ve never talked about is that Islam and I played all our cricket together. I played a lot of cricket. The environment, the pressure is a wicket, and that’s what I understand what pressure is, what the ability of the environment is.”
Kohli’s RCB started the IPL 2025 season with a steady start, winning three of four games and currently ranks third in the standings. Meanwhile, Ishant is now with the Gujarat Giants, who tied for RCB’s points, but he is at a higher position due to its excellent net run rate.
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