{"id":73869,"date":"2026-04-21T15:14:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T10:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinaurdu.com\/eng\/?p=73869"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:14:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T10:14:32","slug":"djokovic-says-virat-kohli-sparked-his-interest-in-cricket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaurdu.com\/eng\/?p=73869","title":{"rendered":"Djokovic says Virat Kohli sparked his interest in cricket"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>World-renowned tennis star Novak Djokovic has revealed that his interest in cricket was sparked by Indian batting icon Virat Kohli.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking during an awards ceremony in Madrid, the Serbian athlete said that Kohli is not only his friend but also someone he deeply respects and admires for both his personality and sporting excellence.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic noted that his connection with Kohli has grown over time, adding that their interaction played a key role in developing his curiosity about cricket.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is my friend, and I admire him a lot,\u201d Djokovic said, adding that Kohli\u2019s influence led him to follow the sport more closely.<\/p>\n<p>The tennis star also hinted at the possibility of meeting Kohli in India, where the two athletes could share time on both the cricket field and tennis court.<\/p>\n<p>The remarks highlight the growing crossover appeal between global sports icons, with athletes from different disciplines building connections beyond their respective games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World-renowned tennis star Novak Djokovic has revealed that his interest in cricket was sparked by Indian batting icon Virat Kohli. Speaking during an awards ceremony in Madrid, the Serbian athlete said that Kohli is not only his friend but also someone he deeply respects and admires for both his personality and sporting excellence. Djokovic noted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":73870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,136],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[213],"class_list":{"0":"post-73869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest","8":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Djokovic says Virat Kohli sparked his interest in cricket<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chinaurdu.com\/eng\/?p=73869\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Djokovic says Virat Kohli sparked his interest in cricket\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"World-renowned tennis star Novak Djokovic has revealed that his interest in cricket was sparked by Indian batting icon Virat Kohli. Speaking during an awards ceremony in Madrid, the Serbian athlete said that Kohli is not only his friend but also someone he deeply respects and admires for both his personality and sporting excellence. Djokovic noted [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chinaurdu.com\/eng\/?p=73869\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"China Urdu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-21T10:14:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/chinaurdu.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Djokovic-Virat-Kohli.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"385\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"LORD\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"LORD\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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