Virat Kohli picks Sachin Tendulkar’s ‘Desert Storm’ as an innings he wishes he played
India captain Virat Kohli once again expressed his admiration for icon Sachin Tendulkar and spoke about his idol during a fun conversation hosted by India football skipper Sunil Chhetri on popular social media platform Instagram on Sunday.
The duo spoke about various things, both on and off the field, and Tendulkar’s topic came up during a quirky rapid-fire round.
Kohli, who is often referred to as Tendulkar’s second coming in Indian cricket, spoke about the ‘Master Blaster’s’ iconic knock against Australia in Sharjah in 1998.
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“The one knock in international cricket you wished you had played?” Chhetri asked.
“1998 desert storm,” Kohli answered straight away.
“Which one, the first one in the semi-final or the final?” Chhetri futher asked.
“The first one where we qualified for the final,” Kohli clarified.
22 years ago, against all odds, Tendulkar single-handedly powered India into the Coca Cola Cup final with an astonishing 131-ball 143 in Sharjah.
Although, he couldn’t power India over the finishing line in the match, he did manage to drag them into the title clash against the same opposition, which India eventually won.
Kohli was also quizzed by Chhetri about that one Tendulkar shot which he wished was also present in his armoury and the ‘Delhi Dasher’ spoke about the latter’s lap shot.
“Wow… there are so many. You know the ease with which he used to play the lap shot… unbelievable… I never saw him miss it.. unbelievable control. I could never play that shot well so I would look to steal that,” Kohli said.
From Tendulkar, the conversation soon shifted to former Australia spinner Shane Warne, who was hit by the ‘Master Blaster’ to all corners in Sharjah.
Kohli recalled the moment when Warne made him look like a fool during the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa.
During the 2nd match of the tournament in Cape Town, Kohli came out of the crease to hit a Warne delivery but missed it completely and the ball crashed into middle stumps after pitching on leg.
“I played against Shane Warne and he made me look like a fool in IPL 2009. Then there was a game in Rajasthan in 2011 and he was the captain, I played decent there… didn’t hit him and he didn’t get me out. We won the match and I remained unbeaten,” Kohli recalled.
“You know that is when he told me something after the game that ‘never bite back.. never say something back to the bowler’.
“You know obviously I didn’t listen because meri gaadi usi se chalti hai. Maine kaha chalne do (because that is my go-to game and I shouldn’t change it),” Kohli said, leaving Chhetri in splits.
