Indian captain Virat Kohli began the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy on a winning note with a 31-run win over hosts in the first Test at Adelaide.
Ahead of the Test match, Virat Kohli had a tête-à-tête with former Australian wicketkeeper and captain Adam Gilchrist. In the exclusive interview with Gilchrist on Fox Cricket, Virat Kohli spoke about what he wants to be remembered as after his playing days are over; what should his legacy be.
"Honestly, numbers and all these things would be the last thing I would think of when I finish playing," Kohli told Adam Gilchrist in a wide-ranging interview on Fox Cricket.
He continued, “For me, the most important thing is if I've been able to inspire the next lot to push themselves towards excellence and break their own barriers of any kind of limitations they have in their minds or bodies. Anything like that, because that's what I believe in – to be able to play my cricket at the level I want until the time the time I (stop playing) is my goal. “
"If I can leave that legacy behind where people are striving for excellence every day in what they eat, how they train, how much they sleep, what their rest patterns are like, how they practice, how they think about the game and keep Indian cricket at that level. If I can contribute to that even five percent, I'll be very happy at the end of my career," Kohli added.
The 20-year-old Indian captain is the no.1 batsman in Test rankings at the moment and off the field too, is ranked the 83rd richest athlete in the world, with earnings of US $24 million in the TIME magazine's Top 100 most influential people of 2018 list.
Kohli, who married Bollywood diva Anushka Sharma in 2017, enjoys a humongous social media following as well, with more than 90 million accounts following his activities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Despite all the limelight and all the glory, Kohli says, "My focus is on doing the normal things, just staying in the present, focusing on what I need to do in my sport and my life and not get too attached to anything else because it can get dangerous.”
"I understand this is going to end one day and I don't want to be addicted to something that I will not have one day. It's great that so many people like or love what I do and If I can provide entertainment and happiness for them I'm grateful for that. But the numbers don't matter. If I'm able to impact one life, that's more than enough for me," concluded Virat Kohli.
(with inputs from cricket.com.au)
