Team India’s star batsman Virat Kohli is not averse to bowling a few seam ups in crunch situations. However, the former captain usually keeps away from bowling due to his self-admitted funny bowling action. He had once joked in a television show that God has gifted him with an impossible bowling action and he just cannot help himself as he has almost become used to it.
During the television show, the former India captain was asked to shed some light on his bowling action. Bursting into laughter, Kohli sheepishly admitted that while he can bowl sometimes, he cannot do it consistently at the international level.
Kohli went on to share a hilarious incident from an Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings. Kohli recollected that both the batsman and wicket-keeper were perplexed and caught off-guard with the way he delivered the ball.
Kohli explained how he had slipped during his delivery stride and yet managed to bowl that left both batsman Ravi Bopara and wicket-keeper Mark Boucher fending for cover.
“Once, I slipped and released the ball. It was an IPL match between RCB against Kings XI Punjab. Bopara was batting while Boucher was keeping wickets. So, what happens is sometimes when you slip and fall, the ball does not come out of your hand. However, on that day, I slipped and delivered the ball which went just above the stumps. Both Bopara and Boucher were fending for cover. They were like, ‘What is this man doing?’ He lied down and delivered the ball, and managed to swing it as well,” said Kohli.
“God had cursed me with this terrible action. I can find rhythm by bowling it that particular way only. Even if I bowl spin, I bowl in that very manner,” he added.
Notably, Kohli has managed to scalp four wickets in IPL so far. In international cricket, he has captured four wickets each in ODI and T20I formats. He has also bowled in 11 Tests without having any success.