Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa has lauded veteran batter Virat Kohli for his evolution in the last decade and a half. Uthappa's statement comes after Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) leggie Amit Mishra alleged that Kohli's behaviour changed a lot since he became superstar of Indian cricket. Mishra also revealed that Kohli did not get back to him about his future in international cricket when he was ready to make a comeback after injury.
"I have actually seen Virat kind of evolve from a brash young Delhi boy to an evolved human being. You know the evolution has been quite tremendous, to be honest. Today he's practically reaping what he had sown 15 years ago," Uthappa said on cricket.com/tv.
Kohli was considered arrogant for his self belief but the former Under-19 World Cup-winning captain justified his claims by becoming a legend of the game breaking a huge number of records across formats.
"One of the things that has always stood out to me about Cheeku has been his conviction in himself. When I listen to a young 19-year-old Virat Kohli, you know talking about himself or his conviction in himself, you'll get mortified, you'll be like 'What is this dude talking about?'. "But fast forward 10 years and you be like 'Okay now that makes sense,'" Uthappa added.
Mishra had also said alleged that Kohli hurled abuses at LSG players unnecessarily. He believes that the youngsters and Naveen-ul-Haq would not be able to respect the 35-year-old after the ugly spat.
Kohli takes a long break
Kohli announced his retirement from T20I cricket after India’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph in Barbados. He scored a match-winning half-century in the final against South Africa.
Reportedly, newly-appointed head coach Gambhir had urged senior players Rohit Sharma, Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah to play in the ODI series on Sri Lanka soil starting next month. Gambhir wants a full-strength ODI squad as India don’t have many ODI series to play ahead of Champions Trophy 2025 in February-March. So far, only Rohit has agreed to play in the ODI series.
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