Veteran India Pacer Ishant Sharma offered a sincere insight into his long-term friendship with Virat Kohli and said that the star dough would always be “cheek” for him, known only to those who shared their initial cricket years with him.
On Saturday, Star Sports spoke on Saturday 36 -year -old fast bowler from Delhi on his journey along with Kohli, a relationship that began in 17 days and continued to the highest level of international cricket. Despite Kohli’s towering character in Ishant, he told him that he still sees him as the same childhood friend he grew up with.
“I think the virat kohli (star) is for external people. I don’t see him like this because we played in U-17.
Ishant kindly remembered his days in settings under 19 years – time marked with modest means, shared rooms and modest life. It was a period that created their bond ways that glory could never touch.
“When we were in the U-19, we used to calculate how much money we had. We were eating. When we went to U-19, we saved our tas and took them with us. Virt Kohli is different for everyone.” He remembered.
Despite Kohli’s promotion to the global superstardom Ishant, the core of their relationship remained unchanged – one rooted in brotherhood, trust and shared history.
“Imagine your brother has reached such heights. Everyone thinks he is great. But you will see that at the end of the day he is a human being. You spent a lot of time with him at the end of the day. You know him in and out. You know where he came from, how he is and how not.”
The fans recently captured the view of this deep bond when they were both seen warmly in the field before the IPL match, a moment that became viral on social media.
What distinguishes their friendship, Ishant said, is how little cricket in their conversations. Instead, their catching up is full of jokes, laughter and nostalgia.
“When we meet, we never talked about how we played so many test matches. We never talk about it. We’re talking about funny jokes. It’s happening, it’s going on, look at it, look at it. Fun jokes,” he said.
“I never felt it was a virat kohli. For us it’s a cheek. We’ve always seen it like this. He saw me like that. We sleep together and share the room.”
Ishant has also shared a memory since he was chosen for the Indian team, and remembered how Kohl had woke him up and broke the news.
“When our debut came in India, the name of the team came … kicked me and said your name came. He said: Will you really play for India? I said, brother, let me sleep,” he said with a laugh.
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Published:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
17th May 2025
