'Something very beautiful about it': Robin Uthappa recalls the day Virat Kohli batted through grief

Time of India

12-05-2025

Virat Kohli
Robin Uthappa
, former Karnataka player, recalled the remarkable incident from 2006 when an 18-year-old
Virat Kohli
returned to bat for Delhi in a
Ranji Trophy
match against Karnataka, just hours after his father's death, scoring 90 runs to help his team avoid the follow-on. Uthappa shared his memories of witnessing Kohli's resilience during that challenging moment on the KimAppa show.
The incident occurred when
Kohli
was batting on 40 overnight when his father, Prem Kohli, suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away at 2:30 AM. Despite the tragedy, the young cricketer chose to continue playing the next day.
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Kohli had previously shared his experience of that difficult moment in an interview with Graham Bensinger.
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"I was playing a four-day game at the time and was supposed to resume batting the next day when this happened at 230 odd in the morning. We all woke up but had no idea what to do. I literally saw him breathe his last. I called my coach in the morning and told him what had happened and that I wanted to play because leaving a cricket match was not acceptable to me no matter what. I came back from the game for the last rites and promised my brother that I will play for India," Kohli had said.
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Uthappa, who was playing for Karnataka in that match, described his observations of young Kohli's demeanor during that innings.
"We heard about Virat, we heard about this young kid's father's demise. There was some accommodation that we needed to do as far as an extra fielder and all that's concerned. But then he came on to bat the following day, which was pretty incredible. I remember just kind of speaking to him for about 30 seconds or so, just offering my condolences. He was very, very sweet about it. But when he batted that day, there was something about his eyes and the way he batted. very resolute when he batted, very few emotions, very resolute. Not like the burning fire we see Virat batting with, it was, it was more like an ember, you know what I mean? It was just like steady and controlled and keeping everything in check, something very beautiful, I felt. I sensed that time, about a youngster dealing with the demise of his father, and still turning up to play for his state, something very beautiful about it," Uthappa shared.
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Uthappa also noted how this incident gave him his first glimpse of Kohli's potential greatness.
"Just the way he went about his innings was phenomenal, more than the cricket, what I remembered was the way he held himself. For me, that was the first time I kind of saw the thirst and perhaps the greatness of Virat Kohli, just Virat as a player. But after that, we became fast friends in RCB, and then, you know, we spent a lot of time together," Uthappa added.