PBKS vs RCB: They Came To Me And Said, Can You Please Come To The Auction? - Virat Kohli Recalls How He Denied A Franchise’s Offer
Published - 19 Apr 2023, 05:47 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:15 AM
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli opened up about his relationship with the franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He also revealed how the other teams weren’t listening to him in the early days but later when he played for India he rejected their offer.
Virat Kohli was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008 from the drafts after he guided India to the U-19 World Cup win. He made his debut for the team in the same year and initially batted in the middle order. After a few years in 2013, he was handed the leadership of the side and since then he has written his own story.
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The right-hander has piled up truckloads of runs for the franchise and is the leading getter in the league. The batter is the most capped RCB player in the history of the tournament and has piled up over 6844 runs to go with 5 centuries and 47 half-centuries.
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Virat Kohli opened up about his partnership with RCB. He said that the franchise shows faith in him and backed him a lot. Speaking to Robin Uthappa on Jio Cinema, he elaborated:
“It’s been amazing. Why I value this partnership and journey with RCB so much, is because in the first 3 years of the IPL, they backed me a lot. Even when the retentions happened, they said, ‘we want to retain you’. My only feedback to Ray Jennings at the time was ‘I want to bat in top-order. I bat at 3 for India, and I want to bat at 3’. And they said, ‘okay, you will bat at 3’. They showed faith in me at the time when I needed it. I was growing in my international career as well.
PBKS vs RCB: “They were not even keen enough to listen to me,” says Virat Kohli on other franchises
Virat Kohli also revealed that he was in talks with the other franchises as well but they were not keen to listen to him, however, when he played and performed for India they wanted him in the auction and he rejected it. He added:
“That is of more value for me. I won’t take names but another franchise who I spoke to at the time… they were not even keen enough to listen to me. I was playing lower down the order at the time (5-6). I was like, ‘if I could get the opportunity to bat in the top of the order somewhere else…’
The same franchise, because I had played for India and performed in 2011, before the retention, came to me and said, ‘can you please come to the auction?’ I said, ‘no chance. I will always be with the franchise that backs me. Yes, it was. And they denied it straightaway. I was like, fair enough.”
Virat Kohli is currently playing IPL 2023. He has looked in a fiery touch and has smashed 3 half-centuries in the 5 games he played. He will be next seen in action when RCB will take on PBKS on Thursday (20th April).
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About the Author
Ankitjit is an author at Cricketaddictor. He has been working with the organization since April 2023... Read more
