Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli was in attendance at the Pro Kabaddi match on Saturday in Worli. He led the proceedings and sang the national anthem. Speaking to the host broadcasters, Kohli named his choice of seven cricket players who could make it to a kabaddi team.
The skipper ruled himself out and said that since the game required a lot of strength and athleticism, he would pick Dhoni. He also included the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and KL Rahul.
"It requires a lot of strength and athleticism. So I would say, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav. Umesh is really strong. Rishabh Pant as well. I would say Bumrah because he can really work on a toe-touch. One more... I am not even going to include myself because these guys are stronger and more athletic. The last one would be KL Rahul. That's my seven," Virat Kohli told Star Sports.
Kohli named his favourite kabaddi player
Kohli also named Rahul Chaudhri as his favourite kabaddi player and said the camaraderie shared between Chaudhri and Ajay Thakur for Team India and then for Tamil Thalaivas is very similar to what he and MS Dhoni share when playing together for the Indian team.
"Rahul Chaudhari and Ajay Thakur. They have great camaraderie. So I think those two would be a direct copy of me and Mahi [Dhoni]," Kohli said.
Kohli also interacted with people and thanked the kabaddi players for helping the game grow and giving it the recognition all across the globe. He also spoke about the Indian players and hailed their fitness and determination to make it big at a world stage.
"Seeing how players from all over the globe come to India to be a part of the PKL shows that the level of the sport has been escalated exponentially. The reason kabaddi has become a world recognised sport is due to the fitness and determination of Indian kabaddi players," Kohli further added.
The Indian cricket team will now head across to Florida and West Indies for a bilateral tour. It begins with a 3-match T20I series followed by 3 One Day Internationals. It concludes with a 2-match Test series.
