Virat Kohli showed great signs of entering a purple patch in the IPL 2025 as he scored a 42-ball 67 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Mumbai Indians recently. In the first match of the IPL 2025, Kohli scored 59* followed by 31 against Chennai Super kings and 7 against Gujarat Titans. Kohli, whose jersey number is 18, is playing his 18th IPL. In fact, he is the only player to have played in all editions of the IPL for just one team.
In a Virat Kohli special on Jio Hotstar, '18 Calling 18, the star mentioned a sledging incident involving his long-time India and Delhi teammate Ishant Sharma. Recalling a match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata chasing 223, Kohli said he was intimidated with the way Ishant was bowling.
"The interesting thing, which I've never spoken about, is that Ishant and I played all our cricket together, so I have faced him a lot. But in that game, I felt he was bowling at a different level, and that was the pressure. That is what environment means. Had I faced him in the nets, I wouldn't have been intimidated, but that day, I felt like I couldn't hit any of his deliveries, and that was because of the atmosphere and the pressure," he said.
The RCB star added that Ishant, who was major hit at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series then in Australia, was sledging him. The then youngster had dismissed Ricky Ponting in Perth and was an India star. However, Kohli's answer was ready.
"We were staying in different hotels, so there was no conversation about the game. But yes, he was sledging a lot. I mean, seriously...he just came back from Australia, had that new hairstyle, so he had that star attitude. I said, 'side mein aa mein tereko batata hu'. But all fun and games," he said.
RCB ultimately lost
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