Virat Kohli is one of the few active cricketers who have played every IPL season. Not to mention that he played in the first game between Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Kolkata Knight Riders at the legendary Eden Gardens.
On Wednesday, he shared a never-before-heard story from the first IPL game.
Fresh from winning the U-19 World Cup and bearing the weight of expectation on his shoulders, an 18-year-old Kohli set out to bat at Eden Gardens in pursuit of a massive 223. However, the strain of losing an early wicket, as well as the atmosphere at the stadium, quickly overwhelmed Kohli.
Kohli noted that the same Ishant Sharma, whom he had seen multiple times in the nets when playing for the Delhi Ranji side, turned out to be a terrifying bowler solely because of the atmosphere in Kolkata as he struggled against the India fast bowler. Ishant Sharma played for KKR in IPL 2008.
"The interesting thing, which I've never spoken about, is that Ishant and I played all our cricket together, so I have faced him a lot. But in that game, I felt he was bowling at a different level, and that was the pressure. That is what environment means. Had I faced him in the nets, I wouldn't have been intimidated, but that day, I felt like I couldn't hit any of his deliveries, and that was because of the atmosphere and the pressure," Kohli said on '18 Calling 18' on Hotstar.
Kohli added that Ishant Sharma, who was fresh off the BGT 2008, where he had gained fame thanks to his spell to Ricky Ponting, kept sledging him throughout the first over he faced against the pacer. But Kohli had his answer ready.
"We were staying in different hotels, so there was no conversation about the game. But yes, he was sledging a lot. I mean, seriously...he just came back from Australia and had that new hairstyle, so he had that star attitude. I said, ' side mein aa mein tereko batata hu'. But all fun and games," he said.
Kohli was eventually dismissed by Ashok Dinda in the next over, having scored just one run off five balls, as RCB lost by 140 runs.
