Virat Kohli‘s participation in the Ranji Trophy fixture between Delhi and Railways pulled great interest from fans. Kohli, who last played a Ranji Trophy match in 2012, took the field in Delhi’s seventh-round clash against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
More than 15,000 fans thronged the Stadium on Thursday, Day 1, to watch the Indian icon in action, and another big crowd attended the second day of the fixture.
India TV Sports Editor Samip Rajguru interacted with the fans near the Stadium and also met with a Virat Kohli doppelganger. The Kohli lookalike, named Karan Kaushal, revealed how it feels to be compared to the legendary cricketer.
“I am Karan Kaushal. For the past 10 years, people have told me that I look like Virat. I don’t have to do too much to look like him. It’s a great feeling to look like him,” Karan told India TV.
Karan, an IT professional, shared an anecdote of how people started drawing comparisons between his looks and Kohli. “When I was in Goa in 2014-15, a few guys wanted to take a selfie with me. I asked why do you want it? They told me that you look like Virat. Once, a restaurant owner got confused looking at me and thought Kohli had left the World Cup and had come here. I asked a few people whether I looked like him, and they said yes,” he highlighted.
Karan says he decided to keep following Kohli’s looks after the ODI World Cup 2023. “I have lived in the US and Dubai. Wherever I used to go, people used to say to me, ‘ You look like Virat. ‘ Now I am in India. Since the ODI World Cup 2023, I have been trying to keep the look Virat has,’ he shared.
‘Great to feel like Virat’: Karan
Karan also highlighted that people call him King Kohli as his name initials are KK. “People call me KK (King Kohli) as my initials (Karan Kaushal) go with it. When I play corporate cricket, people notice me and tell that you look like Virat,” he said.
“It is a great feeling to look like Virat. My face is like a person of whom the country is proud. My mother jokes that you have to make runs today. When I am with my family, it disturbs my privacy a bit,” Karan added.
Fitness freak Karan
Not only from the face, Karan is working to keep himself in the same shape as Virat. He is currently 39 and wants to stay the same for the next 10-15 years. “I have been into fitness since 2010. I try to have Virat’s discipline. I will be 40 in March. I want to stay like this for the next 10-15 years.”
He shared that he had met Kohli but that interaction was a pretty brief one. “I have met him in Kanpur. I could not talk a lot as security was tight too. I want to talk a lot to him. I was in awe of him earlier. I really want to sit with him the next time. I would feel I have lived my life. I hope the dream comes true,” he said.
