In a sweet gesture, India’s star player Virat Kohli gifted pacer Akash Deep his bat days before India’s first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai. Deep also posted a picture of the bat on social media and thanked Kohli.
The young Indian pacer revealed that Kohli offered him a bat, asking if he needed one. However, he mentioned that he would never actually play with it and would instead keep it as a souvenir in his room.
“Virat bhaiya ne khud se bat diya tha [Virat bhaiya himself gave me the bat]. He must have observed something about my batting. I didn't ask for it; he came to me and asked, 'Bat chaiye kya tujhe?' Who wouldn't want a bat from Virat bhaiya? He is a legend. I was very happy to hear his words and wanted that bat. He asked me what kind of bat I use while batting, and I just smiled—I didn't have words," Akash Deep said during an interaction with TOI.
“Then he said, 'Yeh le, rakh le yeh bat.' I will never play with that bat; it is a big gift from Virat bhaiya, and I will keep it as a souvenir on the wall of my room. I even got his autograph on the bat," he further added.
Meanwhile, India defeated Bangladesh by 280 runs in the first Test match at Chepauk Stadium, taking a lead of 1-0 in the series. Akash contributed with 2 wickets and 19 runs in the match.
The Rohit Sharma-led side will now eye a series victory over Bangladesh in Kanpur that will commence on Friday (September 27) at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
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