‘When he was 18-19, Virat Kohli knew…’: Dhawan drops bombshell statement, reveals ‘were together in the India team and…’

Although Virat Kohli is already 36-years-old and is nearing international retirement atleast, he is still among the fittest cricketers. The former India skipper is the fittest in the national team, and only probably Ravindra Jadeja is on par with his fitness. Speaking to Star Sports, former India cricketer Shikhar Dhawan hailed his ex-teammate, and also analysed his growth as a cricketer. Shikhar Dhawan dropped a huge statement on Virat Kohli.

“We were together in the Indian team and have always spoken about cricket. Like I earlier said, he is very disciplined and thinks very positively. He knows he needs to change with time, and it's important. Like how he included sweep shots later in his skillset,” he said.

‘Virat Kohli is a very big batter’: Shikhar Dhawan

“He knows how he needs to play. He knows he is supposed to play fast and strong, which he has been doing and we saw it last IPL season. His other strength is also that he will wait for 5-10 balls and then his game will come out, his consistency has also increased. He is mentally very strong, and like he said with time confidence increases and so does understanding of the game. You have better control over yourself. He is a very big batter. When he was 18-19, he knew his strengths and then he refined it,” he added.

Kohli has been in decent form in the ongoing IPL 2025 season, and RCB are currently fourth in the standings. But in their most recent fixture against PBKS, RCB had a massive batting collapse in a rain-derailed match, and other than Rajat Patidar, Tim David, rest of the batters got single-digit scores. Kohli was dismissed for one run off three balls as RCB lost by five wickets.

In the ongoing season, Kohli has registered 249 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 141.47 and 49.80 average. He was also recently part of India's Champions Trophy 2025-winning squad and played a key role throughout the tournament.

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