Virat Kohli folded his hands on Sunday and turned down a request by a teammate who asked him to replicate his iconic 2013 Champions Trophy celebrations that involved doing the Gangnam style dance - a rage at the time - and pushups. As India won their first ICC 50-over title since then on Sunday, another Champions Trophy glory, Kohli was less enthusiastic.
He was asked by TV presenter Jatin Sapru to do the same while speaking on broadcast but shyly turned down the idea. "He is an older guy now!," said Sapru with Kohli shaking his head.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Sapru then went on to ask Kohli to speak about his ambition and mood after winning his fourth ICC title. The 36-year-old has won the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2013 and 2025 Champions Trophy and 2024 T20 World Cup in his illustrious career.
When asked if it still gives the same feeling, Kohli said, "Of course that's why you play this game. You play for such big days, for such big tournaments. When you do it four times, then it is a blessing. I consider myself lucky to have played for this long and to have won four times.. It's been amazing."
Coming into it, there were some rumours that Kohli, and Rohit Sharma, will retire after the tournament. For now, the duo turned down any such notion.
"I try to speak to these guys as much as possible, try to share my experience, how I've been able to play for so long, try to step in wherever I can to help improve their games and yeah, it's only, as they rightly say, when you leave, you want to leave the place in a better position," said Kohli while speaking to Simon Doull.
"That's our effort, you know, that's what we're striving for that when eventually we are finally done at whatever stage, we have a squad that's ready to take on the world for the next 8-10 years, and these guys definitely have the talent to do so and also the game awareness and, you know, they've stepped up already, so many impactful innings, this guy's played Shreyas (Iyer), beautiful, KL's (Rahul) been finishing games, so Hardik's (Pandya) a match winner."
India registered a memorable four-wicket win over New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final on Sunday. It was their seventh ICC title.
The TOI Sports Desk excels in a myriad of roles that capture the ...
Read MoreThe TOI Sports Desk excels in a myriad of roles that capture the essence of live sporting events and deliver compelling content to readers worldwide.
From running live blogs for India and non-India cricket matches to global spectacles featuring Indian talents, like the Chess World Cup final featuring Praggnanandhaa and the Badminton World Championships semifinal featuring HS Prannoy, our live coverage extends to all mega sporting events. We extensively cover events like the Olympics, Asian Games, Cricket World Cups, FIFA World Cups, and more.
The desk is also adept at writing comprehensive match reports and insightful post-match commentary, complemented by stats-based articles that provide an in-depth analysis of player performances and team dynamics.
We track news wires for key stories, conduct exclusive player interviews in both text and video formats, and file content from print editions and reporters. We keep track of all viral stories, trending topics and produce our own copies on the subjects.
We deliver accurate, engaging, and up-to-the-minute sports content, round the clock.
Read Less
Start a Conversation
Post comment