Virat Kohli reminisces his early career as DDCA unveils a stand in his name

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The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) unveiled the Virat Kohli pavilion in their annual awards function and the Indian skipper couldn’t help but reminisce about his early days at the stadium. The DDCA also renamed the iconic Feroz Shah Kotla as Arun Jaitley Stadium in a homage towards the late politician and sports-administrator at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday.

“Never thought I would be honoured at such a grand scale. Don’t know how to address this as my family, wife, brother, sister-in-law are here,” said a nostalgic Virat Kohli.

“It was in 2001 (2000) during a match against Zimbabwe, my childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma gave me two tickets. I remember clinging to the gallery grill asking for Javagal Srinath’s autograph. I was telling my brother how far we have come. So today to have a pavilion in my name at the same stadium is surreal and a great honour,” he added.

A short video on Kohli’s journey from his U-19 days to being the Indian captain was shown in the ceremony, in the presence of the entire Indian cricket team along with the support staffs.

On his relation with the late Arun Jaitley, Kohli said, “I told Arun Jaitley ji’s family that the world knew him differently but I have known him just as a human being.”

“He came to my residence after my father’s death and gave me courage and strength. It’s a momentous occasion today” he added.

The Indian team along with their skipper was felicitated by Sports minister Kiren Rijiju while former sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and India legend Kapil Dev, were also present.