Watch: Sameer Rizvi's respectful gesture for 'forever legend' Virat Kohli wins hearts

Meerut-born right-hand batter Sameer Rizvi paid his respects to Indian batting stalwart Virat Kohli during the handshakes after CSK defeated RCB by 6 wickets in the IPL 2024 opener. Rizvi was seen removing his Chennai Super Kings cap before shaking hands with Kohli. That gesture of the youngster who played his debut IPL match yesterday, is now going viral all over social media with fans loving what Rizvi did.

Although Sameer Rizvi could not get his chance to bat as the match was finished by then but he had first-hand experience of what it’s like to play in the richest T20 league. He will also be a future player and the future started yesterday when Ruturaj Gaikwad took the onus of captaincy and led CSK towards a decent victory over RCB.

Watch the video of Sameer Rizvi paying respect to Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli hugged MS Dhoni after the Match.🫂🥹💛❤️ pic.twitter.com/L7wxH9uOF4

— Virat Kohli Fan Club (@Trend_VKohli) March 23, 2024

After shaking hands with Virat Kohli, Sameer Rizvi took to his official Instagram account and posted a picture with the legend himself inside the dressing room. He captioned that post with just 2 words “Forever Legend”.

 

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A post shared by Sameer Rizvi (@sameer_rizvi_786)

Virat Kohli fails to get off the flyer upon competitive return

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli who was returning to competitive cricket after a gap of exactly 3 months due to the birth of his second child with wife Anushka Sharma, failed to get off the mark on his return. Initially, he didn’t have to do much as his opening pair Faf du Plessis was doing most of the damage. The former South African captain was thrashing Deepak Chahar and Tushar Deshpande.

Virat Kohli hadn’t even played 5 balls until the 5th over but when he got into action, he did look quite sloppy. He only scored a six in the match and amassed just 21 runs off 20 balls. If he is really to seal his spot in the Indian team for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in June at the USA and West Indies then Kohli will need to up his game to some extent.

There were reports anyway about him missing the flight to the Caribbean because the conditions over there might not suit his gameplay and if he continues like that, things will become even more complicated. But given the type of player, he has been over the years and the way he has been serving India, especially during ICC tournaments.

Who can forget the way he pulled the game towards India when the Men in Blue were taking on Pakistan in the group stage of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground? 16 runs were required off the last ball and Kohli against all odds stood in the crease until the last moment and guided India to a victory that will be remembered forever.

Moreover, if Virat Kohli plays out a 500+ run season like he had last year then there will not be any doubts regarding his participation in the T20 WC. The highest run-scorer of the toughest T20 league’s impact is so much that only Rahul Dravid is the batsman after him to score the most runs in IPL as an Indian – 893 runs.