Star batter Virat Kohli has been an epitome of loyalty for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), having been part of the franchise since the inception of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008. Kohli received a rousing ovation from the fans during the RCB Unbox event at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday. The RCB men’s team gave a guard of honour to the women’s team after the Smriti Mandhana led side won the WPL 2024 title last week, defeating Delhi Capitals in the final.
As the RCB fans gave a rousing reception to Mandhana, Kohli decided to join the fun by speaking a few words in Kannada, the local language of Karnataka.
In a viral video, Kohli said this is the new chapter of RCB.
“I just want to let everyone know, Idu RCB’ya Hosa Adhaya”, the former RCB captain said.
King Kohli youu beauty.. How perfecttt that was..!!!!
Kohli kannada slang #RCBUnbox #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/hPMOvzC285
— ALPHA MALE (@AlphaMaleTweetx) March 19, 2024
The packed Chinnaswamy crowd went berserk after Kohli’s gesture.
The Chinnaswamy crowd reaction when Virat Kohli spoke Kannada.
– King Kohli is an emotion.pic.twitter.com/T387OFeXzI
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 19, 2024
Over the years, the fans have honoured the star batter by calling him “King Kohli”.
However, Kohli asked the host Danish Sait and the fans to not call him ‘king’ as he feels embarrassed every time he hears it and even revealed a conversation with Faf du Plessis about the topic.
“We need to get to Chennai pretty quickly tonight. We have a charter flight, so we don’t have much time.”
“Firstly, you need to stop calling me that word (King). Please call me Virat. Don’t call me that word (king), I was just telling Faf du Plessis that I feel embarrassed every year when you call me that word. So just call me Virat, please, from now on, don’t use that word, it’s very embarrassing for me,” Kohli said.
Kohli hoped that the men’s could emulate the women’s team’s WPL success this time around in the IPL.
“It was absolutely amazing. When they won it (WPL), we were watching. Hopefully, we can double it up with the trophies and that will be something truly special,” said Kohli during the RCB Unbox event.
Kohli, who will start his 17th season with the RCB in IPL 2024, said he would bank on his skillsets and experience to translate the dream of winning the IPL trophy into reality this year.
“That’s a dream of mine to know what it feels like winning an IPL trophy. I will be here, be a part of the team that wins the trophy for the first time. “I will try my very best with my abilities, my experience to be able to do that for the fans and the franchise,” said the former captain of RCB.
(With PTI inputs)
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