Indian cricket's poster boy, Virat Kohli, is eagerly looking forward to the release of the biopic of his idol, Sachin Tendulkar, the Test captain said here today after launching a new initiative to connect with his legion of fans.
"Everyone knows who I idolised as a kid. He will always remain my idol because of who I came into cricket. I am very eagerly looking forward to the biopic on Sachin Tendulkar. I have idolised him. That will be something which will be very interesting (to watch)," said the 27-year-old Kohli.
He was answering a question on which of the three soon-to-be released biopics on cricketers - Tendulkar, Mohd Azharuddin and India's current one-day captain M S Dhoni - was he keen to witness after releasing "Virat FanBox", conceptualised by Singapore-based start-up firm PrivyPlex.
Kohli, at the same time, said that he was also keen to see the other two bio-pics.
"I'm looking forward to all three, the one on MS which will be a different one, and on Mr Azhar as well," he added.
Kohli, however, refused to take any questions from the media on cricket or his personal life while also staying away from commenting on the controversy over Bollywood star Salman Khan's nomination by the Indian Olympic Association as the brand ambassador of the country's Rio Games contingent.
"That's not for me to comment on when I don't know the details. It won't be proper for me to comment on this platform," he flatly said.
"Flying Sikh" Milkha Singh and Olympic medalists - two-time podium-finisher Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt - have opposed the move of the IOA to nominate Khan as the goodwill ambassador of the Indian contingent to Rio yesterday.
When asked about his personal life and relationship with Bollywood starlet Anushka Sharma by a female scribe, Kohli retorted, "That's for none to know. I do not have to comment on it. How is your personal life and how is it going?"
"It's an important opportunity for the fans to interact with me and the content will also be most exclusive, not available on other social media platforms," said the cricketer about the digital initiative that connects him with the fans.
Costing Rs 16,999 annually, the 'Virat FanBox' claimed to offer a direct and unprecedented access to the star cricketer, both online and in real-life, and comes loaded with, among other things, a state-of-the-art smartphone carrying the cricketer's emblem, designed and manufactured by "Motorola".
One of the key pointers to emerge from the win was the
effort put in the field by all the players, in particular the bowlers and the captain, who were in sync with their thinking process. At various times in the lead-up to the first Test, and during the match, different bowlers talked about plans to string together maiden overs. And they were successful in their efforts.
28 out of 90.2 overs in the first innings were maiden overs. 20 out of 78 overs in the second innings were maidens as well. That's an impressive return of 31 and 25 per cent respectively, indicating the discipline of the part of the bowlers regardless of the quality of the opposition.
"We know that any team can go easy on the opposition when you have 560-570 runs," said Kohli after India's victory. "But what's important is to still have the mind set of defending 350 even, when you have 560. Because when you have a low score on the board that helps you repeat those things again and you don't have to do anything different to suddenly defend a small total."
At this point in time, it is a matter of conjecture if India will have to defend a low score in this particular series. But with all respect to the West Indies, it is an obvious preparation for sterner tests ahead. And in this endeavour, the Indian bowling attack was fully supported by the fielding unit.
There was a very discernable difference in the field between the two sides. The West Indies were lethargic, not filling the gaps and allowing easy runs that propelled even Amit Mishra to get an easy half-century. Meanwhile, in their effort to get as many maiden overs in as possible, India were buttoned up tight on the field. There was immense pressure on the West Indies' batsmen to find the same gaps that had existed when they were fielding.
It puts the onus on Kohli as a thinking captain, shuffling the field around again and again, to suit his bowler's preferences as well as attack the batsmen at the same time. The Indian bowlers, on different occasions, had spoken about the tough pitch conditions and the need to keep working on the batsmen. The tight fielding made sure that easy singles weren't on offer, and bowlers got to work on one particular batsmen for a majority of their over.
"That's what Test cricket is all about," said Kohli.
"It's not just about what's happening with the bat or ball on the pitch, it's about what's happening in the head as well. It's about how you create momentum for the bowler and the environment around a batsman where he makes that mistake. That's where Test cricket is very different from other formats of the game, which I don't think people realise too much. That's the challenge for any cricketer in this format, to overcome this and do well. That's why it's so testing and so demanding of the players.
