Virat Kohli (left) and Viv Richards. Pic: Twitter
Former Indian cricketer Vivek Razdan has revealed an interesting anecdote about how Virat Kohli helped West Indies legend Viv Richards during a flight.
Richards was part of the commentary panel during India’s tour of the Windies in 2019. The players and broadcast crew were traveling on the same flight. Richards did not find a place to keep his bag as all the overhead lockers were full. Kohli, the then Indian captain, removed his luggage and placed Richards’ bag over there.
Razdan, who was part of the commentary team for the series, explained that matches in the West Indies are played on different islands. Hence, players from both teams, the production crew and West Indies’ board members travel together between matches.
Narrating details about the Richards-Kohli flight incident, the former pacer said on Sportskeeda’s show SK Tales:
“A match ended in Antigua and we were taking a flight to the next venue. The players used to board the flight first, followed by the production crew. Sunil Gavaskar and Vivian Richards were part of the commentary team. When Richards entered the flight, he wanted to place his bag in one of the overhead lockers. But all of them were full and hence he didn’t have space to keep it. He was getting a bit troubled as he opened various lockers one after the other but to no avail.”
The 52-year-old added that everyone on the flight, including players from both teams and the commentary crew, saw Richards’ exasperation but it was only Kohli who decided to intervene. Completing the story, Razdan said:
“Suddenly, Kohli walked up from his seat and started rearranging the luggage of the players. In the end, he removed his own bag from the locker, kept it below the seat ahead of him and put Viv Richards’ bag in that space. Richards tapped his shoulder and thanked him.”
Despite playing the game in different eras, Kohli and Richards share great mutual admiration for each other.
Viv Richards hailed Kohli after latter quit Test captaincy
The West Indies great was among the many from the cricketing fraternity who showered praise on the star Indian batter following his decision to give up the Test captaincy earlier this year.
Taking to his official Twitter account, Richards wrote:
“Congratulations @imVkohli on a stunning run as the Indian captain. You can be very proud of what you have achieved so far, and for sure, your name will be up there among the best leaders in world cricket.”
Kohli is India’s most successful captain in the longer format of the game. He led the team in 68 Tests, of which India won 40 and lost 17.
