Virat Kohli "I Hate Losing In Life"

After a sensational World Cup and IPL season, you might expect the best cricketer in India to be coasting on success, money and fame. But Virat Kohli is playing the long game, looking at life beyond the pitch.

- Megha Shah

I can’t be a wild child all my life,” Virat Kohli tells me, as we drive to the private jet that will fly him to Bengaluru. He’s lean, more slight than he appears on TV, with tattoos running down both arms and hair cropped close on the sides He’s sitting beside me, wearing his red, black and gold Royal Challengers Bangalore uniform – just before this he was shooting for a commercial directed by Raj Kumar Hirani, with MS Dhoni and the other IPL team captains. His jaw, which seems to grow more acicular with every passing year, is tilted slightly towards the sky, as though he were dressed in top-to-toe Tom Ford. Kohli’s stance is that of a winner. But his mood is surprisingly grounded and self-aware.

“I’m afraid of losing,” he states. “It’s a very real fear. Losses on the field I’ve learned over time to deal with. But in life… I hate losing in life.” It’s probably why he wins so often. Over the last year, the 27-year-old has become, perhaps, the biggest global celebrity that India has. This country hasn’t produced demigods like David Beckham or Johnny Depp, whose fame knows no geographical bounds, who traverse the international field as household names. Kohli is unique. He’s the biggest Indian sporting talent that the world has seen in a couple of generations. And while he will likely surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s records on the field, off it, even at this relatively young age, he’s already a commercial behemoth, quite unlike anyone the game has ever seen. British magazine Sports Pro ranked him as the sixth most marketable athlete in the world last year, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He’s been linked with a famous actress, has his own fashion label, a line of gyms launching soon and his name means something in every language. Virat Kohli has a lot to lose.