DRIVEN The VIRAT KOHLI Story

 

 

 Introduction

We hardly saw him in Delhi. He was constantly engaged in outstation cricket matches.
Then his appearances became few and far between once he announced his prowess at the 
national level. Virat Kohli is a talent that grew into a phenomenon, on the strength of self -confidence that had one constant supporter his coach Raj Kumar Sharma. 

When Virat was making news in Delhi's local circuit, not much attention was paid to his 
exploits. I had known Raj Kumar from his playing days and it was through him that my 
interest in this lad grew. His big scores were a consistent part of the circuit that was hugely 
competitive, since Virat insisted on playing in the company of seniors.

Raj Kumar's concern was what if he lost Virat to the sharks of the market. When India under-19 was playing a World Cup Final in Colombo in 2006, the team hotel was besieged by agents waiting to sign up the players with prospective commercial value. Raj Kumar wanted to protect Virat from these market forces. Not that he doubted his pupil's commitment, but the boy was too young. Distractions were possible. To his delight, they did not exist in Virat's dictionary. ' You will not get damaging reports about me, ` Virat had assured his coach, and he stuck to his promise.