‘Virat Kohli Asked Me To…’: Shadab Khan Reveals Special Bond With India Star

Virat Kohli and Shadab Khan [Source: X]The India vs Pakistan relationship in 2026 is a bitter pill to swallow, given the political environment. However, before that, during the captaincy of Virat Kohli as well as MS Dhoni or Rohit Sharma, the bond between the neighbours wasn't so bad. Pakistan cricketer Shadab Khan shed some light on the same friendly bond between him and India star Virat Kohli, bringing out some hidden and unknown relationship facts between the duo.Shadab Khan reveals unknown bond with Virat Kohli Speaking on the Beard Before Wicket podcast, Shadab Khan shared that Virat Kohli caught him off guard by speaking to him in Punjabi during one of their interactions. Explaining how different Virat Kohli is from the way everyone sees him on TV, Shadab shared how the duo connected through Punjabi. "When I played against Virat for the first time, he surprised me because the way we see him on TV is completely different from how he is in person. He asked me if I spoke Punjabi, and I said yes. Since then, he has started speaking Punjabi with me. Now, whenever we meet, he just talks to me in Punjabi,” Shadab shared.ALSO READNahid Rana Suffers Fresh Setback After Cyst Detection: ReportLater, Shadab also praised the Indian star as a legend of the game while also attributing his down-to-earth demeanour to him.“He was already a legend of the game at that time, so the way he spoke to me really surprised me. I had seen his aggression and everything on the field, but when I met him in person, he was completely different," Shadab said.How Kohli has fared against Shadab Khan on the field?Notably, Virat Kohli has faced Shadab Khan on the cricket field multiple times in the ODI and T20I formats. In the one-day games, Kohli faced Shadab for 45 deliveries and managed to score only 40 runs, translating his strike rate to 88.88. However, notably, the Pakistan spinner has never been able to dismiss Kohli in the ODI format. In T20Is as well, Kohli remained unbeaten against Shadab, scoring 39 runs off 37 deliveries from the Pakistan spinner and boasting a batting strike rate of 105.40.ALSO READSuryakumar Yadav Dismissed For 17 Runs On His T20 Comeback Match