Kohli and Dhawan formed one of the most successful ODI partnerships for India. (REUTERS)Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan opened up about the fight he had with Virat Kohli while playing football during a warm-up session. Dhawan, 39, also spoke about how a run-out, also involving Kohli, made him ‘very angry’.
Recalling the incident on the Raj Shamani Podcast, Dhawan said: “Virat and I fought once. We shoulder-tackled each other once while playing football during a warm-up session. For a second, we got angry,” he said. “Slowly, we stopped playing football in warm-ups because people would fight. It happens, there are so many athletes, aggressive, each one is big in his own right…”
Asked about any moment in his career when he got angry on the field, Dhawan said: “I was in South Africa, Virat ran me out. At that time, I got very angry.”
Dhawan added his sharp reaction wasn’t just because of the dismissal. The frustration that his Indian Premier League auction hadn’t gone too well contributed to his frustration. “My auction, too, hadn’t gone well. I wasn’t able to accept that as well. So, that was there, and then this (run out) happened. I abused a lot… he (Kohli) was in the middle, I was venting out in the dressing room — not at him, but like how batsmen usually would. But we have our understanding because we know it isn’t intentional. This happens in cricket,” he added.
Dhawan, who knew Kohli since their junior days, also spoke about his first meeting with Kohli when they were teenagers. He recalled a young ‘Virat, around 16-17 years old, being a bit soft-spoken.’ “Since I was the senior, he spent time with me. At that time, he was focused on food, but once on the field, he only wanted to score runs. He had a clear idea of his game and was always hungry for success,” Dhawan said.
He added that the tragic demise of Kohli’s father became a turning point in shaping his career and passion for the game. “Unfortunately, when his father passed away, his zeal was already there, but his seriousness increased even more. I clearly remember the match when he came to play on the very day his father died and scored 95 runs. After that, he never looked back,” he said.
Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.
3 min read
