Virat Kohli “a very well mannered kid”, says Shah Rukh Khan
Shah Rukh Khan heaped praise on India’s limited overs vice-captain Virat Kohli for his well mannered demeanour off the pitch and technically sound stature on it.
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“On a personal level, I really like Virat. To me he comes across as very well mannered and I really like well mannered kids,” said Shah Rukh Khan who had turned commentator for a day and was speaking about cricket before the India vs Bangladesh match at Bengaluru which India went on to win by a slender margin of one run.
“Whenever I’ve met him, even after the U-19 World Cup, he has come across as a very well mannered person in his personal life. And now on the field also he contains his aggression and technically is fantastic as well,” added the Bollywood superstar.
Sat with speedsters Shoaib Akhtar and Zaheer Khan by his side, SRK spoke on a variety of cricket topics including his early career as a keeper for the school team and a chance to go higher up the level with a Lala Amarnath camp.
The Bollywood superstar who was on the show to promote his upcoming movie ‘Fan’ acknowledged T20s had attracted the attention of the youngsters and looked back at the 2007 World Twenty20, which India won at Johannesburg, as a very nice memory. “I had taken my son and there are people who talk about Tests or 50 over matches but T20s have attracted the attention of the youngsters. So we went with a few friends and the South African government was gracious enough to allow me to get a visa on arrival. You go there and win against Pakistan. My heart was in my mouth when Misbah (Ul Haq) played that scoop shot and Sreesanth held on to take the catch. It was one of the nicest moments of my life and my son’s too,” he said.
YES YES YES.!!! Thank you India my poor heart was in my lap!!! Uff don’t keep it this close next time please.
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 23, 2016
Looking back at his early years and where his love for cricket began, he shared that he used to be a wicketkeeper for the school team while being a lousy batsman. “I was in St Columbus School in New Delhi. I was a good wicketkeeper because I had good reflexes even if I was a bad batsman. Then there were no pads. I was called to the national stadium for trials too. Gurcharan Singh was the coach then and it was a Lala Amarnath camp.”
“There I met Kapil Dev, Surinder Amaranth, Mohinder Amarnath. I was so tiny back then that I would wear my thigh guard on my chest! So if I would shift my foot back to take a catch, he (Gurcharan) would hit me. And I was suggested to shift to the side after taking a catch but because they came so quickly, I would only go back,” said Shah Rukh with a smile.
His association with cricket didn’t end though as SRK owns two-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders.
