Virat Kohli said in a podcast that Mark Boucher had the greatest impact on him during the initial stage of his career. The two played together in Royal Challengers Bangalore for three seasons at the IPL.

Kohli shares how the Boucher guide molded its mentality

Speaking in a podcast with Mayanti Langer on the YouTube channel of Bengaluru of the Royal Challengers, Virat Kohli said that during the first days of his career, Mark Boucher had the greatest influence among all the players he played with. Kohli said Boucher could notice what parts of his game they needed work to improve and grow as a player. He gave that advice without Kohli asking for it.

What remained with Kohli was when Boucher told him that if he came to India as a commentator in three or four years and did not see Kohli playing for the national team, he would mean that Kohli had disappointed. Kohli said this talk had a great effect on him and pushed him to work harder.

“Actually, of all the players with whom I played initially, Mark Boucher had the greatest impact on me. He discovered what my weaknesses could be: if I wanted to go to the next level, this is what I need to do, without me asking anything. He told me that when I come to comment in India 3 or 4 years, if we do not see myself playing for India, which will ask yourself.

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Mark Boucher helped Kohli face short balls from the beginning

During a live Instagram conversation with AB of Villiers in 2020, Virat Kohli also praised Mark Boucher. He shared that Boucher used to take him to RCB networks with a tennis ball and a racket to help him practice gorillas and short balls. At that time, Boucher told him that if he wanted to play international Crickt, he had to learn to play the short ball, or otherwise he should forget about it. Kohli said that Boucher had the vision even at that time, which he considered that it was very special.

“He (Mark Boucher) used to take me to the RCB networks with a tennis ball and a racket and make me practice gorillas and short balls. At that stage, he told me that, if you want to play the international cricket, you have to touch the short ball, otherwise forget it. So he had the vision, that was quite special,” said virat during Instra Live With Ab de Villiers.

Now, Virat Kohli is one of the best players in all formats and is a true game legend.

In the IPL 2025 in progress, which is its 18th season, Virat Kohli has already scored 443 races in 10 entries and once again it is in the race for the orange cap. This shows that he still has the hunger to act at the highest level.

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