Virat Kohli is a household name in India. Kohli got the moniker on the back of excellent knocks he played throughout his career, and they came while chasing gargantuan targets which truly makes him stand out from the rest. All the songs of his praises get propped up by the phenomenal record he has registered for himself such as the exceptional 71 hundreds in three formats which makes him only the second player to achieve this landmark at the age of 33. Having made his debut in the national team at the tender age of 19, Kohli did not take long to peak and make headlines after coming of age and maturing both as a cricketer and a person. The haughty exuberance he exuded later morphed into being a level-headed cricketer who once used to fly off the handle. But despite being a cricketer of a high standard, he is human in the end who finds comfort and confidence in a superstition that he believes in and is still not known by many.
The White Shoes that keep Kohli up and running
Kohli disclosed his superstition that many were oblivious to in a live session with Manchester United manager Pep Guardiola on Instagram from 2020. The 33-year-old cricketer from Delhi opened up about his lucky charm which happens to be ‘White Shoes’. Kohli revealed “I love playing in white shoes, batting especially. It’s more of a superstition for me.”
He further went on to make another revelation regarding his little-known superstition, Kohli added that he is in his element while batting with his white shoes and feels at his level best.
"When I bat, it's my zone and time to be absolutely close to myself and perform,"
This figures out for a lot of us if now we pay attention that Kohli is never seen wearing shoes other than the colour white and this reinforces and confirms his superstition.
Batting stance
Kohli is a right-handed batter who is seen to make use of his bottom a lot. Kohli while walking down to bat at his stable position of number 3 in limited-over formats is famous for his luscious cover drive and short arm jab which are a feast for the eyes of cricket enthusiasts. It still seems like yesterday when Kohli unleashed the full force of his shots with his best knock of 183, probably his best ODI knock and the highest score in the format. India were chasing a mammoth total of 330 and lost opener Gautam Gambhir early and soon Sachin Tendulkar and it was then a young 24-year-old Kohli who rose to the occasion and made quick work of a tall order on a tough pitch.
The optimal batting display also has a little secret which Kohli divulged “Earlier, I used to wear the same pair of gloves with which I’d been scoring. That phase has gone as now I look for comfort. Now the superstition revolves around wearing black wristbands.”
His career so far
At the age of 19 he made his India debut rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tendulkar, Gambhir, Saurav Ganguly et al. He quickly rose to prominence via his brilliant knocks as the Indian team saw the greats of the game step down from cricket due to being long in the tooth. He to this day is still the only player to have amassed 973 runs with seven fifties and four tons in a single Indian Premier League (IPL) season. He took the captaincy rein in 2017 and he is indisputably India’s best Test captain who gave India the belief to win a series overseas and he has the most number of double hundreds in Tests as captain. Under Virat’s leadership, India won 11 consecutive home series. He swept the board with all the ICC awards in 2019, leaving others with not much to claim, when he became the first player in history to win ICC Cricketer of the Year, ICC Test and ODI Player of the Year awards in a single year. Apart from these, he was also the captain of the Test and ODI teams as well. Kohli leads by example with his exemplary fitness and that fitness which makes him quick with runs has also enabled him to be the fastest to chalk up 2,000 runs in T20Is with 15,000+ runs in ODI at a striking average of over 50.
