Even as a kid Virat Kohli was not afraid of fast bowlers: Ishant Sharma

Bengaluru, May 28: From an under-19 star, Virat Kohli has risen to the status of world's best batsman across the formats and has also grabbed the captaincy of India. Kohli has taken the batting to a different level since taking over the leadership role.

Kohli is the only batsman in present day cricket who clocks an average in excess of 50 in all three formats of the game. His teammate and statemate Ishant Sharma is not surprised one bit.

"I had first met him during the trial for an under-17 team. There itself he was batting with cap at nets and even in the match against all kind of bowlers. Pacers, spinners he did not have any issue facing them. Some of the boys were bowling really fast but he did not have any fear," said Ishant in a video shared by his IPL team Delhi Capitals.

Ishant also said Kohli is a fun-loving person on and off the field and they keep in touch with each other even during off seasons. "We know each other from the U-17 days and we end up talking to each other a lot. He always loves to have fun around teammates. It has not changed at all even after he became the captain. We still share a lot of jokes and laughter and even when I am not in the team we have kept in touch with each other, and it is a special kind of bonding," said the 31-year-old Ishant, who has played 97 Tests and picked up 297 wickets.

Ishant and Kohli would have come against each other had the IPL 2020 was played as per schedule. But the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to the Covid 19 pandemic and the BCCI is actively looking for a window to hold at least an abridged version of the tournament so that the team will not get hit hard financially.