Watch: KKR star reveals Virat Kohli's pep-talk over phone helped him to revive his form
The Afghan keeper-batter played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from the IPL 2023 to the IPL 2025 season and benefited from Virat Kohli.
In a recent conversation, Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz revealed how Virat Kohli helped him to regain his form. Gurbaz stated that whenever he needs some help, without any hesitation, he used to dial Virat Kohli's number. And he gets tips from the Indian batting maestro.
The Indian Premier League not only became a stage for emerging Indian players but also a platform for overseas cricketers like Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The Afghan keeper-batter played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from the IPL 2023 to the IPL 2025 season. Ahead of the IPL 2026 mini auction, the Kolkata-based franchise released him. Virat and Gurbaz never played for the same team. But as they played in the same league, which is IPL, they got the opportunity to connect with each other easily, which has benefited the Afghanistan batter in a good way.
During the interview, Gurbaz said that whenever he called or messaged Virat Kohli, he got replies. The 24-year-old is mesmerized to get such fluent replies from a legend like Virat Kohli.
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"Whenever I call or message Virat bhai, he always picks up my call & replies to my messages. He is such a down-to-earth person; you don't expect this from legends of such stature," Rahmanullah Gurbaz said.
For example, Gurbaz said about his recent '90-run' knock for Afghanistan. Before the match, he was having a tough time. To revive the form, he called Virat, and on the next day, he found his form again.
Virat Kohli's pep-talk revived Gurbaz's form
"I recently called Virat Bhai when I was going through a slump, then I called him & I scored 90 odd the very next day. We talk so often," Gurbaz added.
On November 2, this year, Afghanistan was up against Zimbabwe in Harare for a T20I match. In this game, Gurbaz played a 92-run knock. During this 48-ball innings, the opener smashed eight 4s and five 6s. Batting first, Afghanistan registered 210 runs, and Zimbabwe scored 201 runs in the second innings of the match. With Gurbaz as the man of the match, Afghanistan won the match by 9 runs.
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