Virat Kohli Father

Virat Kohli is an Indian cricketer who represents Team India in international cricket. In domestic cricket, he represents Delhi while in the Indian Premier League, he plies his trade for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

A right-handed top-order batsman, Kohli has also served as the captain of India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Kohli is widely regarded as one of the best batsmen of this generation. The former India skipper has scored heavily across formats in the last decade or so.

In ODIs, he has already scored over 13000 runs with the help of a record 50 centuries. In Tests, Kohli has scored almost 9000 runs. In June 2024, he retired from T20Is as the second all-time highest run-scorer in the format.

Virat Kohli's father:

Who is Virat Kohli's father?

Virat Kohli's father's name is Prem Kohli. He was a criminal lawyer while his wife, Saroj Kohli, was a homemaker. He was father to three children, sons Virat and Vikas and a daughter Bhavna. The Kohli family resided in Meera Bagh until 2015 before deciding to move to Gurgaon.

How did Virat Kohli's father die?

Virat Kohli's father tragically passed away in 2006 after suffering a heart attack. Kohli was just 18 years old at that time and was still trying to find his feet in professional cricket. When his father passed away, Kohli was representing Delhi in a Ranji Trophy game.

In an interview, Kohli revealed that his father's health deteriorated after he lost a lot of money in share trading. Kohli senior was under immense pressure after the monetary loss and it took a big toll on his health as he suffered a stroke.

Prem Kohli was half paralyzed due to the stroke and passed away after being bed-ridden for almost a month.

"I was playing a four-day game at the time and was supposed to resume batting the next day when this (father passed) happened at 2:30-3:00 am in the morning. We all woke up but had no idea what to do. I literally saw him breathe his last," Kohli had said in an interview with Graham Basinger.

Kohli has said several times that his father's death was the most impactful moment of his life. After his father's demise, Kohli's resolve to play for Team India became only stronger and it took him two more years to earn his maiden India cap.

In 2008, he led India to glory in the Under-19 World Cup. In the same year, he also made his India debut during the tour of Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, Kohli's father could not see his son playing for India but the India batsman has made sure to make his father proud.