[Exclusive] 'He added composure to his game after 2011' - Jaskaran Malhotra reminisces bond with Virat Kohli

Former USA cricketer Jaskaran Malhotra is currently plying his trade in the Legends League Cricket (LLC) 2024 for Toyam Hyderabad. Born in Chandigarh, the wicketkeeper-batter led Himachal Pradesh at the under-19 level before immigrating to the United States in 2014. He played seven ODIs and six T20Is for the USA.

During an exclusive interview with CricTracker, the 34-year-old spoke about his experiences of playing in the LLC for the first time. He also recalled his memories of playing with Virat Kohli in India during his early days in the sport and shared his expectations from the USA's cricket team after their impressive showing in the T20 World Cup 2024 in June.

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How has your experience been so far in your first LLC season?

It has been a fantastic feeling. Our team is led by Suresh Raina and he's a good guy. Then there is Monty [Panesar] paaji, Shaun Marsh. There are several big stars not only in our team but also other teams and I'm getting the chance to rub shoulders with them. It is a good opportunity for a youngster like me, you can call me a youngster because I've only recently retired. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue playing in this league in the coming years.

You have played with Virat Kohli and other big names in domestic cricket. What is the best memory you have from that time?

There are a lot of memories. Virat was there, Mayank Sharma, who is playing here (was there). Mohit Sharma, who has played for India, played in the World Cup, (was there too). Then there are several other players, I'm forgetting their names but these are the ones who were close friends of mine. So, we were very naughty, we also used to travel a lot.

Do you remember any memorable incident with Virat Kohli?

Back in the day, social media was gradually going. At that time, Orkut was a platform which was growing. Kohli taught me how to use Orkut. Those were our memories. Then Orkut went out and new platforms appeared but those were the times when you know, we used to have some fun.

Did you think back then that Kohli would become such a big player? Did you spot any qualities that helped him achieve such greatness in the sport?

He was a great player from the beginning. Nobody ever doubted his potential as a player. Even during that time, he used to make 100s, 150s, and 200s. So his talent was never a question. He knew that a little bit of composure would help him go a long way. Kohli did that after 2011 and then he became the most excellent player in the world.

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The USA recently defeated Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024. How do you see USA cricket evolving in the coming years?

Cricket is growing a lot in the US. It wasn't like we just went to the World Cup and defeated Pakistan. The players have put in a lot of hard work. Cricket is not the main sport in the US and you go through times when you don't get enough support from the board but you still have to continue doing your hard work because people only see the end result. But they don't see how much the players are working even without the support of people. The journey has been great. Hopefully, the world is getting to know that the USA has players and diverse players. Hopefully, we will be able to do well in the times to come and go one step ahead in the World Cup.