'He never liked getting out'- Mandeep Singh reveals his mother wanted to see fire in his eyes similar to Virat Kohli

After making his debut for the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2015, Mandeep Singh delivered many memorable performances with his willow. The Punjab batsman established himself as one of the vital cogs of RCB’s batting depth. Mandeep donned the RCB jersey for four years before shifting to Kings XI Punjab in 2019.

Mandeep reminisced his time with RCB and sharing the dugout with greats like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Although the right-hander is associated with Kings XI Punjab at the moment, he stated that he missed RCB and playing under Virat Kohli. According to Mandeep, RCB is a great franchise and is like a second home to him.

While recollecting memories from his time with RCB, Mandeep lauded current India skipper Virat Kohli. Mandeep revealed that he was mindblown after seeing the fire in Kohli. Mandeep, after sharing the dressing room with Kohli, realized that one does not need sixes in a game. It’s Kohli’s hunger to score a lot of runs which separates him apart from the rest, according to Mandeep.

“The experience at RCB was phenomenal. I feel I am a hard-working guy but the first time I saw Virat Kohli, I realised I had to increase my intensity. He would not stay long hours in the gym, but at the end of every session, you could see that he had given it his all,” Mandeep said in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda.

‘Virat Kohli is consistent only because of his fitness’: Mandeep Singh

“He (Virat Kohli) has the fire to score a lot of runs. I realised from Virat that you don’t need to hit only sixes, there’s a lot more than that. He’s consistent only because of his fitness. It’s his hunger to score runs. AB told me to learn that hunger from him and not only his technique,” added Mandeep.

IPL 2016 was a landmark for Kohli, as he shattered all records and amassed 973 runs– most by a batsman in a single season– from 16 matches in the season. Mandeep revealed that his mother, who does not or follow much cricket, noticed the fire in Kohli’s eyes. She also suggested Mandeep to have such fire in his eyes.

“My mother, even though she does not watch or follow too much cricket wanted to see the fire in Virat Kohli’s eyes in my eyes as well. Every match he scored runs, but he still wanted to score more. He didn’t stop. He never liked getting out, I learned a lot from that season,” he added.