"Ended Up Speaking For Four Hours": Jemimah Rodrigues Recalls Meeting Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma With Smriti Mandhana In New Zealand

Considered one of the best players in cricket history, Virat Kohli's advice is considered to invaluable by young cricketers. The former India captain has also been sharing his knowledge with young players on multiple occasions. One such incident was narrated by Jemimah Rodrigues, who recalled how she and Smriti Mandhana met Kohli at a hotel in New Zealand. The youngster also went on to reveal how the conversation stretched to them "speaking for four hours". Jemimah stated that she and Mandhana asked Kohli to give batting advice, to which he agreed. The duo was in the same hotel as Kohli and Anushka Sharma in New Zealand.

"Smriti and I had the opportunity to talk to him. We had asked him 'we want to speak to you Virat bhaiya about batting. Can we meet?'. We were in the same hotel in New Zealand. He was like 'yeah sure, come'. So he called us at the cafe and Anushka Sharma was also there", she said on The Ranveer Show.

"We had asked him for just a few minutes but we ended up speaking for four hours. We spoke half an hour about batting but after that it was just normal things".

She also mentioned a certain advice from Kohli where he explained how to deal with the pressure of expectations.

"I asked him about how to handle expectations. I told him 'You are Virat Kohli. If you've scored a fifty, it's like you have underperformed for people. So how do you handle that expectation?' He said 'for me every time I am out there on the field, I just look at the scoreboard and just focus on it. Do that and don't focus on crowd and what I can do to help India win. If I stop giving these expectations importance, and just look at the process, the results will automatically follow'."

Jemimah was recently dropped for India's Women's World Cup squad this year. Meanwhile, Kohli is set to feature in his 100th Test match on March 4 at Mohali, when India take on Sri Lanka in a red-ball match.

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket India Cricket Team India Women Virat Kohli Smriti Mandhana ICC Women's World Cup 2022