Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli shared how his father’s death in December 2006 became the most impactful moment of his life, shaping his cricket career. At age 18, despite his father’s sudden passing, Kohli chose to continue playing in a crucial Ranji Trophy match for Delhi against Karnataka, where he was batting at 40 overnight and went on to score an additional 50 runs to help his team avoid the follow-on.Kohli was representing Delhi in domestic cricket when he received the news of his father’s death in the early morning hours. Despite the tragic news, he made the crucial decision to continue playing the match.“I was playing a four-day game at the time and was supposed to resume batting the next day when this happened at 230 odd in the morning. We all woke up but had no idea what to do. I literally saw him breathe his last,” Kohli told Graham Bensinger in an interview.“We drove him to the hospital where unfortunately they could not help revive him. My family broke down but I could not cry and there was no emotion. I could not register what had happened and I was blank. I called my coach in the morning and told him what had happened and that I wanted to play because leaving a cricket match was not acceptable to me no matter what,” he continued.Quiz: Who’s that IPL player?“While my teammates were consoling me in the dressing room I got overwhelmed by the emotion and broke down. Now I feel like it was the most impactful thing to have happened in my life. I came back from the game for the last rites and promised my brother that I will play for India. My father was keen that I play for India and that was when everything in life became second priority. Cricket became the first priority.”
“Falling down and fighting back is part of sport and life, but the ability to comeback made me realise that one incident had made me so strong. The ability to comeback became so much more stronger and right now I feel grateful that I could get the kind of strength from such a difficult point in life,” Kohli reflected.The experience strengthened his resolve to fulfill his father’s dream of seeing him play for India. Kohli’s dedication led him to significant achievements in his cricket career.Following these events, Kohli went on to lead India to victory in the U-19 World Cup in 2008, the same year he made his ODI debut. He was part of India’s World Cup-winning squad in 2011 and later that year made his Test debut against West Indies.
