Not Many Know This: Virat Kohli Exposes Ishant Sharma’s Sledging After Fiery IPL 2025 Knock

Virat Kohli, former Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain, is in excellent form in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2025). In his last encounter against the Mumbai Indians, Virat Kohli scored 67 off just 42 balls. Kohli scored 59 not out in his opening match of the season, followed by 31 against the Chennai Super Kings and 7 against the Gujarat Titans.

Virat Kohli, who wears the number 18 shirt, is in his 18th IPL season. Coincidentally, he is the only player to have been in every IPL season while remaining loyal to only one side.

During a Jio Hotstar special titled ’18 Calling 18′, he mentioned a sledging incident involving his Delhi and former India colleague, Ishant Sharma, with whom he had a lengthy history. During a match against the Kolkata Knight Riders, RCB was chasing a target of 223. Kohli admits to being worried after watching Ishant’s form and the manner he bowled.

“There is one topic I haven’t discussed previously, and that concerns Ishant. I’ve got the opportunity to bat against him for a long time since we played so many different types of matches together. But in that one match, he was bowling at a ‘other level’, and the pressure was on.”

‘He had that star attitude’ Virat Kohli

“If I faced him in the nets, I wouldn’t consider being intimidated, but at that moment, it felt as if I couldn’t make contact with any of his deliveries, and that was due to the atmosphere and stress.”

The RCB player further revealed that during the Border-Gavaskar series in Australia, Ishant was actually sledging him. The erstwhile teenager had earlier defeated Ricky Ponting in Perth and was an Indian superstar. However, Kohli was prepared with his response.

“We were staying in different hotels, so there was no discussion regarding the game. But he did a lot of sledging. I mean, seriously…he had just returned from Australia, had that new hairdo, and had that star attitude. I answered, ‘Side mein aa mein tereko batata hu’. “But it’s all fun and games,” he continued.