Not Dhoni, Who Is Virat Kohli’s ‘Special Individual’? News24 –

Virat Kohli discussed his deep friendship with his companion from his formative years, Ishant Sharma, who was previously part of the Indian cricket team. The two friends from Delhi have been teammates since their age group days until reaching the Indian senior cricket team. The cricketers Ishant Sharma and Virat Kohli entered international cricket during nearly identical periods because Ishant debuted before Kohli joined him later.

“Ishant is someone I naturally connected with, from Day 1, absolutely nothing has changed, regardless of whether we play together or we don’t play together – I can absolutely share everything with him, without any judgement, with complete understanding and complete empathy. So he is very special individual in my life,” Kohli said in the podcast.

Virat Kohli talks about his equation with Ishant Sharma, the multiple ICC tournament setbacks, and the beauty of ODI cricket – a format he loves and rules, in Part 3 of @bigbasket_com presents RCB Podcast Bold and Beyond. 🎙️#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB pic.twitter.com/sgaylux8Zq

— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) May 6, 2025

During India’s T20 World Cup victory last year Ishant Sharma was broadcasting the match while tears streamed down his face from watching history unfold.

During a recent episode of RCB Podcast Bold and Beyond with Mayanti Langer Kohli discussed his strong friendship with Ishant. According to the batting superstar there exists no reservation about sharing all his thoughts with Ishant because of his inclusive perspective. According to Kohli during India’s T20 World Cup victory Ishant perfectly understood the collective experience of grief as well as the trophy’s value following India’s multiple losses.

“Whenever you are connected with someone in a strong way, you can feel what they could be going through and could have gone through. I think that energy reaches everyone. We were all emotional about it because we were trying for so long, there have been a lot of ups and downs,” he added.

The childhood friends gathered together at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru for the RCB vs GT clash. The friends embraced before starting their conversation.

In the last IPL season, the two Indian cricket greats Ishant and Kohli faced each other yet Ishant emerged victorious by dismissing Kohli. A playful exchange occurred between Kohli and the DC pacer at the pitch before Kohli left the game by scoring 27 runs from 13 balls as the pacer approached him post-dismissal, then nudged him physically. After Ishant celebrated his wicket, Kohli responded with a smile.