Virat Kohli at an RCB event© X (Twitter)
Virat Kohli remains one of the most influential sportspersons in the world. In India, the chatter around the cricketer, as well as his personal life, grabs plenty of eyeballs. Even in cricketing shows, discussions around Kohli’s cricketing and non-cricketing lifestyles keep fans intrigued. When Virat Kohli made his Ranji Trophy return earlier this year, even the kind of food he had with his teammates during lunch became an intense talking-point. In the past, some broadcasters have even discussed Kohli’s love for chhole bhature and how he developed a resistance towards that temptation to become what he is today.
However, Virat wants the broadcasters to focus more on helping India become a sports-forward nation by highlighting stories about what the athletes do and how they prepare and not about their favourite chhole bhature place.
“We are working towards India becoming a sports-forward nation. We have the vision. We have the groundwork happening today. It should be a collective responsibility of everyone involved. It’s not just about the infrastructure or the people who infuse the money. It’s also about the people who watch. We need education,” Kohli said at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit.
“A broadcast show needs to talk about the game and not what I ate yesterday for lunch or my favourite chole-bhature place in Delhi. You can’t have that in cricket matches. Rather, you could talk about what an athlete is going through,” he added.
Kohli has joined the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) camp ahead of the start of the new Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. There were rumours of Kohli taking up the captaincy role at the franchise but the bosses resisted the temptation and invested in the future by giving the responsibility to Rajat Patidar.
However, Patidar will have Kohli sitting right behind him as he begins this new adventure.
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