India skipper Virat Kohli has credited his father for showing him the right path and making him understand the importance of hard work and effort. (More Cricket News)
During an Instagram live session with India football skipper Sunil Chhetri, Kohli narrated an incident when he was not selected in Delhi's team and his father refused to give any kind of bribe.
"In Delhi, sometimes things happen which are not fair. There was one instance where a certain someone did not play by the rules when it came to selection criteria. He told my father that while I had the merit to be selected, a little extra (possibly a bribe) was needed to confirm my selection," Kohli told Chhetri during the session.
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"My father, who was an honest middle-class man, who worked hard all his life to become a successful lawyer, did not even understand what little extra meant. My father simply said -- If you want to select Virat, then let it be purely on merit. I will give you nothing extra," he added.
Kohli said that the incident shaped him mentally and emotionally.
"I did not get selected. I cried a lot. I was broken. But that incident taught me a lot. I realised that I had to be extraordinary to become successful and that I had to achieve this purely through my own effort and hard work. My father showed me the right way, through action and not merely words," Kohli said.
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Kohli also shared the importance of study, and how his father wanted him to pursue his career.
"My father was very clear that you have to study along with playing. Only when you can say 'I am 200 percent confident that I will be able to make a career out of this,' then only you will focus on that one thing," Kohli said during his interaction with Chhetri.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) also took note of Kohli's interaction with Chhetri.
It shared a quote card of Kohli and their post read: "India skipper Virat Kohli shared some advice from his father that helped him keep his horizons broad while growing up."
During the conversation, Kohli once again expressed his admiration for cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.
Kohli, who is often referred to as Tendulkar's second coming in Indian cricket, spoke about the Master Blaster's iconic knock against Australia in Sharjah 1998.
"The one knock in international cricket you wished you had played?" Chhetri asked.
"1998 desert storm," Kohli answered straight away.
"Which one, the first one in the semi-final or the final?" Chhetri further asked.
"The first one where we qualified for the final," Kohli clarified.
Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli has 70 centuries across all formats.
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Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.
Kohli's father had passed away in 2006 due to a cardiac arrest. Despite the tragedy, Kohli returned to the ground the very next day to bat against Karnataka in a Ranji Trophy match.
(With ANI inputs)
