Virat Kohli recalls an incident when his father denied bribing for his son's selection

India skipper Virat Kohli has worked extremely hard in his career to become a successful cricketer. He doesn’t open up much about his family in public. However, during a chat with his friend and India’s prominent Football player Sunil Chhetri, Kohli recalled an incident when his father Prem denied offering a bribe for his selection in Delhi team.

The 31-year-old stated that he had a chance to play one of the regular players didn’t match the selection criteria. But the official asked his father for ‘little extra’ (bribe) to make Kohli play in the team. However, Virat’s father clearly refused while asserting that his son will only play on merit.

“In my home State (Delhi), sometimes things happen which are not fair. On one occasion, a certain someone did not play by the rules when it came to selection criteria. He told my father that while I had the merit to be selected, a little extra (possibly a bribe) was needed to confirm my selection.

“My father — an honest middle-class man who had worked hard all his life to become a successful lawyer — did not even understand what ‘little extra’ meant. My father simply said, ‘If you want to select Virat, then let it be purely on merit. I will give you nothing extra’,” he said.

The incident taught me a lot, says Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli concedes of being heartbroken for not being selected on that occasion but admits that the incident taught him a lot. He understood that he has to be special to be successful in his cricketing career and it was because his father didn’t offer a bribe for his selection.

“I didn’t get selected. I cried a lot; I was broken. But that incident taught me a lot. I realised that I had to be extraordinary to become successful and that I had to achieve this purely through my own effort and hard work. My father showed me the right way, through action and not merely words,” Kohli added.

Virat Kohli also revealed that he gets emotional sometimes thinking of his father and regrets not getting a chance to give him a relaxed retired life. “I accepted his death, as I was focused on moving forward with my career. In fact, I went and batted in a Ranji Trophy match the day after he died. His death made me realise that I had to make something of my life.

“I think about how nice it would be if I could have given my father the peaceful retired life that he deserved. At times, I get emotional thinking about him,” he further said.