Former Delhi cricketer Jagrit Anand has shed light on Virat Kohli’s mindset as a youngster, narrating a tale from their U-17 days. Anand has disclosed that a coach tried to pull him down and Kohli threatened to ‘beat the living hell out of the people’ due to that attitude.
Jagrit Anand reveals Virat Kohli has laid a strong foundation for himself as a youngster
Anand, 36, revealed that the right-handed batter was already a known name in the domestic circuit due to his run-scoring spree in the Vijay Merchant Trophy. Nevertheless, the right-handed batter was infuriated at one of the coaches trying to pull him down. He said the below on the Quite Rise Podcast:
“When we were playing Under-17, we had played two seasons—Virat had scored a double century and a couple of centuries in the previous season. Virat was a known name in the Delhi circuit. He was always outstanding. Our first game was against Punjab in Patiala. It was Punjab’s home ground. Sidharth Kaul was one of their pacers, and another guy, Amanpreet… they were doing extremely well. They were the terror in the fast-bowling circuit. So all the odds were against us. Virat was always someone who, if you give a challenge, he would love it. Here I am talking about mental resilience. Before that match, we were just having a casual chat. We were talking about how this match is going to pan out. Now, this was a personal conversation that we guys had. Kohli said, ‘I will beat the living hell out of these people,’ in his proper Delhi language.“
Virat Kohli-starrer RCB lifted IPL trophy for the first time last year
Meanwhile, the 37-year-old, who has spent 18 seasons with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), laid his hands for the first time on the IPL trophy last year. The 2025 edition saw the Royal Challengers beat the Punjab Kings in the final by six runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Kohli had grown visibly emotional after the landmark win. Having retained their core, the Royal Challengers should yet again fancy themselves to win the title. Th reigning champions will open their campaign against the SunRisers Hyderabad at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
RCB IPL 2026 squad: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Swapnil Singh, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Venkatesh Iyer, Satvik Deswal, Mangesh Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan, Jordan Cox, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Tushara, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Yash Dayal.
