India’s newly anointed cricket captain in all formats, Virat Kohli, has revealed that he has always taken inspiration from Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, whose never-say-die attitude and extremely disciplined routine and work ethic is something that he always wants to follow.
Virat said: “I take a lot of inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo. The way he has stayed on top for so many years, it’s nothing but down to hard work. I have heard he is the most hardworking footballer in the world and that’s why he is where he is. Messi is a freak (genius) but this guy (Ronaldo) is giving him run for his money because of his hard work.”
One Of the most gifted cricketers in the world, Kohli, was a die-hard fan of the Premier League giants, but he switched his loyalty form Manchester United to Real Madrid when Cristiano Ronaldo joined the Spanish giants for an astronomical transfer fee.
Virat told NDTV: “Yeah I support Real Madrid. It’s mainly because of Cristiano Ronaldo. I used to support Manchester United when he was playing there. Now my loyalties have shifted because of him. I think he is a truly amazing player. I love watching him play.”
Talking about Football’s popularity in India, Kohli said: “Football is a sport that is loved globally and it’s great to see so many kids having an interest in football apart from cricket as well in India.”
“I really hope this sport grows in India because there are so many people that love football in India. We need to have a good infrastructure and more players coming out of India. I completely love the sport and its personally heartening to see so many kids having a lot of interest in football apart from cricket also.”
As MS Dhoni has now stepped down as the captain of India’s ODI and T20 team, Virat Kohli has been lined up as the most eligible candidate to hold the reins of Indian cricket, as they look forward to build the perfect team for World Cup 2019.
Virat Kohli has been compared with Cricketing legend Sanchin Tendulkar from time to time and the talented Delhi boy has again proved his mettle with 1215 runs in Tests and over 2500 plus runs across all formats to his name in 2016.
While talking about his incredible form, Virat said: “It can be put down to understanding my game a lot better than I used to. Being happy with the ability I have, the sort of drawbacks that I have. I understand my flaws and strengths nicely,” Kohli told ecb.co.uk during an interaction.”
“It’s also about finding the right balance. People talk about not having flaws and it’s wrong. Everyone has flaws and consistency is nothing but overcoming those flaws and finding the ability to score runs in Test format, especially which I wanted to find within my game. I feel in happy space knowing exactly where my game is going,” said the dashing batsman.”
“It’s about how you perceive that situation. It’s very similar when you go out to bat. Either you see four slips standing at the back or you see the boundaries only.”
“The external pressure, I have started enjoying it rather than running away from it because if I run away from it, it may come back to hound me and catch me and put me down to a level that I can’t imagine. So I have to take it along with me and find a way to deal with it.”
