There is no denying to the fact that the Government of India is yet to eradicate corruption completely in the country. There are a few corrupt people in the country, who are placed in the respectable professions, asks for a bribe to get the work done for a common man. The current skipper of the Indian team Virat Kohli also experienced similar stuff during his initial days.
Virat Kohli lost his father Prem when he was 18. On Sunday, Kohli recalled the unbearable loss during a chat with football star Sunil Chhetri while also reminiscing about all that he had learned from him.
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On the Instagram live chat show Eleven On Ten hosted by Chhetri, Kohli recounted an incident from his junior days when he was not selected in the team after his father refused to offer a bribe for the same.
The current Indian skipper stated that he had a chance to play when 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.
Virat Kohli narrates:
“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,” said Kohli.
“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. And, I will give you nothing extra’.
“I didn’t get selected and 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,” said Kohli.
I get emotional sometimes:
Further, the flamboyant batsman stated that he gets emotional whenever he thinks of his father. Virat Kohli added that he would have given a nice retiring life to his father if he is alive in the present.
“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,” Kohli said.
