Follow UsVirat Kohli, who is playing his first Ranji Trophy game in 12 years and only his second red-ball game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium since 2017, when his diet preferences changed, surprised the head cook of the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) Sanjay Jha.
Kohli asked Jha to prepare Chilly Paneer and not his usual favourite Chilly Chicken, which he used to eat with passion in his early days, as per the head cook.
“Wo pehle chicken chilli bahut khaata tha. Iss baar unhone paneer chilli banane ko bola (When he was young, he used to love chicken chilli, but today he has requested me to cook chilli paneer for him,” Jha was quoted as saying to Indian Express on Day 1 of the Delhi vs Railways Ranji Trophy match on January 30 (Thursday).
This clearly explains the journey of Kohli’s diet. At the start, he was an avid meat lover like most sportspersons, but in 2018, while playing Centurion, South Africa, he felt a tingling sensation in his fingers that made it difficult for him to bat.
It is then, on the advice of medical professionals that Kohli became quasi-vegetarian, avoiding meat at all costs and eating fish and eggs occasionally.
Kadhi Chawal and Chhole Bahture are Kohli’s cheat meals, as conveyed by him on various platforms a lot of time. So when he was in Delhi, he could not avoid getting a taste of Kadhi Chawal.
“For the past two days after the practice session he had requested for Kadhi Chawal. He met me yesterday after the training session and requested me for chilli paneer,” Jha said about Kohli’s training diet for the Ranji Trophy match.
Earlier, Kohli drew an immensely large crowd for a domestic game at the stadium, forcing people to queue up to 2 km to enter the venue which offered free entry by showing an Aadhar Card.
To make sure the problem of such long queues does not occur again, DDCA decided to open another stand apart from the two already operational- the Gautam Gambhir Stand and the Old Clubhouse Stand.
“We are planning to open Mohinder Amarnath Stand for the next two days,” DDCA Secretary Ashok Sharma told the newspaper.