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India national cricket team's great Virat Kohli was felicitated by the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde, in London. The video of Shinde felicitating Kohli with a shawl and bouquet was shared by the news agency PTI on September 11 from its official 'X' media account.
Virat Kohli and Eknath Shide both were in London, and they went to meet each other today, ahead of India's next series, which will be against the Afghanistan National Cricket Team in Delhi. It will be a T20I series, so Virat will not play in the contest. But the recent initiative by Shinde put the batting legend in the headlines again.
Eknath Shinde explains his meeting with Virat Kohli
Eknath Shinde told the news agency that it was Kohli who met him for a goodwill visit. To mark the meeting, Shinde felicitated the Delhi-born with a shawl and bouquet to honour him. Shinde said that he had met before, but their latest conversation was direct, and therefore he was very happy.
"Virat Kohli lives in London, and when he learned that I am here, he met me for a goodwill visit. I was delighted that such a big Indian cricketer, the one with the most centuries, is so down-to-earth. We had met before, but I was particularly happy with the direct conversation we had today. We also discussed the award I received," the Maharashtra deputy chief minister said.
Welfare schemes in Maharashtra were one of the topics of discussion
Furthermore, he mentioned that the welfare schemes in Maharashtra, infrastructure, and recent development across the state were among the key topics in their discussion.
"I told him about various welfare schemes in Maharashtra. I spoke about infrastructure, and he himself remarked that the development Maharashtra has seen in recent years is unprecedented. I also shared our plans and the infrastructure projects currently underway," Eknath Shinde was quoted as saying by ANI.
#WATCH | Star Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli met Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in London.
— ANI (@ANI) September 11, 2026
They discussed a range of issues, including sports and infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/JAxC4cuTdy
Virat Kohli's stats in ODI cricket for India
For the upcoming three-match T20I series, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) will be the host. All of the matches will be held at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The first match of the India vs Afghanistan series is scheduled to be on September 13.
As Kohli retired fromthe T200 format, he will be seen playing for the India National Cricket Team in the series. After retiring from Test and T20I formats, the batter keeps himself active only for the One Day Internationals. So far in the ODIs, the former India captain has scored 14941 runs at an average of 58.59 with 54 hundreds and 79 half-centuries to his name.
So far this year, Virat has claimed 384 runs at an average of 64.00 with a hundred and three half-centuries. He last featured for the Men in Blue during the ODI series against England, for three matches. In those three matches in England, Virat Kohli scored 144 runs at an average of 48.00 and a strike rate of 109.09 with two half-centuries.
