Despite battling poor batting form, Virat Kohli remains an icon for many. The fact is that Kohli is greatly admired by his teammates. These include young cricketers who have played matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2022. Kohli can be seen talking to the youngsters after the match or the next day. Kohli’s aura is such that the players of the opposition team appear ‘overjoyed’ while posing with the former RCB captain on Instagram.
Among those who have been inspired by Kohli include young Gujarat Titans batsman Bisai Sudarshan. B Sai Sudarshan has scored 145 runs in five matches this season. This also includes his unbeaten 65 against Punjab Kings. He is rocking IPL 2022 like many other young Indian players. Sai Sudarshan has also paid a lot of attention to his fitness. Sai’s mother Usha has revealed that Kohli played a role in her son’s fitness. Sai’s mother herself is a strength and conditioning coach.
Usha told ESPN Cricinfo, ‘Many young children have this mentality, that they only want to get their turn in batting. Sai was also like this in his early years. Then he changed himself. He watched a lot of videos of Virat Kohli. Kohli says that his fitness gives him a lot of confidence. My son’s attitude changed after watching Kohli’s video. He started training seriously with me. During the pandemic, he worked hard on his fitness.
Sai’s mother laughs and says, “During these two years, he kha mera kaan kha gaya (a phrase that means asking too many questions). Sai used to ask why do we train like this? Why don’t we train like that? What is the benefit of this? That is to say, he used to ask a lot of questions.
Sai Sudarshan had made headlines during the 2021 TNPL. There he played for Laika Kovai Kings. He had scored 358 runs in the tournament. He emerged as the second highest run-scorer in the tournament. His effort helped him earn a place in Tamil Nadu’s squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Ranji Trophy. This year, all-rounder Vijay Shankar’s back spasm led to Sudarshan making his IPL debut for Gujarat Titans against Punjab Kings and scored an impressive 35.