‘Do you know me?’ Navdeep Saini recalls unforgettable first meeting with Virat Kohli inside RCB camp

Mayank Bande

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‘Do you know me?’ Navdeep Saini recalls unforgettable first meeting with Virat Kohli inside RCB camp image

Navdeep Saini has been among the prominent fast bowlers in Indian cricket for over the last 7 years, having even played Test cricket in Australia.

The fast bowler first burst onto the scene in the 2016-17 season, when he helped Delhi reach the final of the Ranji Trophy with his pace bowling.

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Later, he was picked by the Royal Challengers in the 2018 IPL auction, who looked to improve their pace attack with some promising Indian talent. Recently, the bowler recalled his first interaction with the then-India and RCB captain Virat Kohli, leaving him in awe.

Navdeep Saini reveals his first interaction with Virat Kohli after joining RCB

Saini first joined RCB in IPL 2019 during Kohli's time as the captain and played 13 league matches, taking 11 wickets in his first season. He went on to play 28 matches for the franchise in the three-year cycle and took 17 wickets before he was eventually released.

Speaking on the Moverss and Shakerss podcast, the 32-year-old opened up on the disbelief of Kohli knowing him and that he was left star-struck at that moment.

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"RCB was facing Delhi and we were playing football during the warm-ups. The football came towards me, so I gave it to Virat bhaiya, who was coming for it. He said, 'Aur Saini, ki haal chaal' [How are you, Saini]. I was shocked, I asked myself ‘does he know me?’ I did not think Virat would know me," he said.

Saini further spoke about the family-like feeling when someone converses in Punjabi, as the duo hailed from the same state of Delhi.

"I asked him, 'Paaji, do you know me?' 'Obviously, I know you. You are very fast,' he replied to me. I continued to warm up and took a picture with him after the match. We chatted for a bit in Punjabi," he concluded.

Having played his last international match in 2021, he continues to represent Delhi in domestic circuit where he has 207 wickets in 74 first-class matches so far.

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In his international career, the pacer represented India in 2 Tests, 8 ODIs and 11 T20Is, picking 21 wickets across formats.

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Mayank Bande

Mayank Bande has been a content producer at The Sporting News since 2023 and has extensive experience in cricket writing. His work has previously appeared on platforms like OneCricket and Last Word on Sports. Beyond cricket, Mayank closely follows football as an FC Barcelona supporter, along with tennis and Olympic sports. Despite holding a degree in Business Administration, he chose to pursue a career in sports, bringing sharp analysis to his writing as someone who once played cricket.