Former India captain Virat Kohli decided to travel solo with his wife Anushka Sharma and daughter Vamika from Bengaluru to Mumbai on Monday. Kohli, who notched up his fifth fifty in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and also picked up his first-ever World Cup wicket in the match vs Netherlands on Diwali night, travelled separately from the rest of the Indian side to Mumbai.
Kohli and Team India arrived in different flights to Mumbai ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semifinal match against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. India are the only unbeaten team in the World Cup 2023 having won all their nine matches and will look to take revenge over New Zealand for the loss in the 2019 ODI World Cup.
On his arrival at the Mumbai airport, Kohli requested the waiting photographers to give him some space and not to click the pictures of his daughter Vamika. Kohli and his Bollywood star wife Anushka Sharma have tried their best to shield Vamika from the glare of media all around the world as much as possible.
Kohli, who came out wearing a mask in Mumbai, posed for a few photos for the fans and photographers before heading towards his car. “Are yaar beti to ghar leke jaana hai (I have to take my daughter home),” Kohli said on his arrival in Mumbai.
Virat Kohli said, "Beti Ko Ghar Leke Jana Hai Yar Please" ___ pic.twitter.com/uYIcr9P7Il
— Virat Kohli Fan Club (@Trend_VKohli) November 13, 2023
Kohli is the highest run-getter in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 after the league stages. The former India skipper has notched up 594 runs in 9 matches with 2 hundreds and 5 fifties to his name at an average of 99.
The Indian batter will be looking to become the first-ever cricketer to score 50 ODI centuries when India takes on the Black Caps in the first semi-final on Wednesday. The 36-year-old batter does not have a great record in the knockout games of the ODI World Cup, as his highest score is just 35. Kohli has a chance to correct that poor record in probably his last World Cup appearance.
Four years back, Kohli scored only 1 against New Zealand in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup in Trent Bridge. But this time, Kohli will play as a batter and not as a captain.