'Maine bus mein staff bola, fir conductor ne aisa sawaal poocha' - Virat Kohli shares his DTC bus experience

Virat Kohli is now one of the richest sporting athletes in the country. But, the Delhi-born batsman belongs to humble backgrounds and was not this rich during growing up. On Sunday, the Indian captain was having a chat with the football star Sunil Chettri. During the interaction, the two players, who grew up in Delhi, talked about their experience of travelling on buses.

The Indian batsman revealed that he used to either take the bus or ride by the cycle for his practise sessions. He also said that his dad would drop him at times during the matches at the Feroz Shah Kotla (now known as Arun Jaitley stadium).

“I started travelling in buses. I had the academy pass for the bus. I also had a cycle with a carrier at the back. Later I bought a duffle bag with two bats on the sides. But my dad used to drop me off in some of the games. When I had my matches at the Kotla, my father used to practice at High Court,” Kohli told Sunil Chhetri during the chat.

People didn’t take me seriously after looking at my face: Virat Kohli

The Indian football team captain asked Kohli if he has ever travelled on the bus without the ticket. To this, the Indian batsman said he could never lie to the bus conductor that he was a staff member. He said that he never had that aura of confidence to pull that.

“No, I’ve never done all such things. People didn’t take me seriously after looking at my face. Had I told them I’m a staff member I would have got caught. Staff members had a personality to go along with it but we didn’t have that. I once told the conductor I’m a staff member but the conductor asked me such questions that I exited the bus.

I’ve never been able to travel without a ticket by lying to the conductor that I’m staff. But I’ve seen other boys do it, they had a different level of confidence and aura,” Kohli said.

The football star then recalled his days to travelling on buses. He said that he would risk going without taking the ticket as he thought there won’t be much of a loss if he gets caught. He revealed that he kept doing that until the time the fine was increased.

“I used to travel without a ticket on the DTC bus, the fine at the time was Rs 20. But I used to get Rs 20 as pocket money from home so I thought when I get caught I’ll use the money to pay the fine. This happened for quite some time before I got caught. So I paid the fine. After that they increased the fine to Rs 50,” Chhetri said.