- Tuesday, March 11, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
India batter Virat Kohli is not among runs for a long while now. The man, who used to score hundreds frequently once, has not hit one for more than 1,000 days now. Yet, there is no dearth of fans’ love for the man, even from across the border, including Pakistan.
The 33-year-old will make a comeback to the Indian side during the Asia Cup kicking off in the UAE on Saturday (27) after missing a couple of overseas tours. The cricketing fraternity is divided over whether the man would hit the purple patch anytime soon. But for the crazy fans, Kohli remains a name that they admire and it was seen again in Dubai ahead of India’s mega clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday (28).
The die-hard fans have assembled at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai where the teams are conducting the practice sessions. On Wednesday (24), the Indian players had their practice session first and during then, something happened around Kohli which won hearts of his fans.
It so happened that a fan of the former India captain came rushing at him while he was walking towards the team bus after the practice session. The fan said that he was from Lahore, the home town of Pakistan captain Babar Azam, and was stopped by a couple of security guards as he wanted to get a picture clicked with the Indian cricketer.
Initially, Kohli tended to walk away but when the man, blocked by the guards, shouted at him saying he had come all the way from Pakistan to get a picture clicked with him, the Indian took notice and fulfilled his wish. The fan, who was identified as Mohammad Jabran, said he considers Kohli as his favourite cricketer and it was a moment he would never forget.
PakTV shared the video of the meeting on their YouTube channel.
“I am not a fan of anyone but Virat Kohli, for whom I have come from Pakistan hoping to get a picture clicked with him. I waited for an entire month for this so the moment he finished his practice and was about to go back to his hotel, I tried a lot. He is an amazing person besides being a fabulous cricketer. He listened to me and agreed to my request of getting the selfie clicked,” the fan told PakTV.
Jibran also said that he wants Kohli to return to form as quickly as possible, and would not mind if it happens to be against Pakistan on Sunday.
He said he does not have a single picture clicked with any of the Pakistan cricketers in his life but always wanted to get a photograph clicked with the Indian batter.
