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To practice what he preaches, Kohli drops Pepsi, fairness products

Agencies
September 16, 2017

New Delhi, Sept 16: Keen to be seen as a socially responsible youth icon, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli has stopped endorsing soft drink maker Pepsi and fairness products because of their association with junk food and racism.

The 28-year-old swashbuckler is among the most sought after for endorsements but Kohli has decided that he would lend his name only to brands which he himself uses and believes in, people in the know of his endorsement deals said today.

The first casualty of this principle has been his association with Pepsi, a company he had been endorsing since 2011. Kohli refused to renew the contract which ended in April this year, saying at the time that he would not ask people to consume something that he himself does not.

Kohli has time and again endorsed healthy lifestyle, which has been key to his awe-inspiring fitness levels and endorsing a soft drink certainly appeared to be a contradiction.

While Kohli's management firm Cornerstone refused to answer queries on the matter, a market insider, who has worked closely with the Indian captain on brand deals, said he is now more aware of his social responsibilities.

"Virat also no longer endorses fairness creams or products of that genre. Virat has risen through the ranks by virtue of talent and hard work," the official, who has worked with Kohli told PTI today.

"The fairness products which relate one's success with skin tone is something that goes against the values for which Virat stands," he added.

Industry experts also feel that since Kohli is currently the brand ambassador of global nutrition company 'Herbalife', which deals in nutrition and weight management care products, it is only appropriate that he picks his other endorsements carefully.

Herbalife also has sports drinks on their product list. "If Virat is endorsing health products of Herbalife, endorsing any junk food or fizzy drinks contradicts with his image also," said another image consultant, who has worked with top celebrities from all walks of life.

Currently, Kohli charges Rs 4.5 to Rs 5 crore per day for a brand. For any celebrity, the per day charge could mean either shooting for the brand or making appearances.

Pepsi did not say how much it paid Kohli for endorsing the brand. But it is known that he has over Rs 100 crore deals with sports goods major Puma and tyre manufacturers MRF.

Puma makes make all the customised merchandise for Kohli, just like it has done all these years for sprint king Usain Bolt.

The Indian captain also endorses luxury German car brand Audi and Tissot watches to name a few. Kohli currently endorses 17 brands -- all carefully chosen keeping in mind his social connect.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
February 5,2020

Aukland, Feb 5: Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women's hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand in the last game of its five-match tour here on Wednesday.

Navneet found the net in the 45th and 58th minutes, while Sharmila scored a field goal in the 54th minute as India drew curtains on the New Zealand tour on a bright note.

After a goalless opening two quarters, Navneet finally broke the deadlock for India in the 45th minute.

Sharmila then doubled the lead when she struck a powerful shot past the New Zealand goalkeeper in the 54th minute. Navneet found the net again just two minutes from the final hooter with a beautiful field strike.

India began the tour by thrashing New Zealand Development squad 4-0 before suffering close 1-2 and 0-1 defeats to the home senior team.

In penultimate game of the tour, skipper Rani's lone strike handed India a 1-0 win over Great Britain.

"...I am happy we produced three goals against New Zealand in the last match. This tour gave us a good insight about where we need to improve and one of the things is to create faster play than we do now," said India's chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Commenting on his side's performance during the tour, Marijne said, "Sometimes we tend to keep the ball too long on the stick and then we create pressure. We need to avoid that by passing faster.

"On the defence side, we need to be a bit more calmer and need to improve our tackling. We will have a four week camp after a short break when we return home and we will be working on these points."

The Indian team will return home on February 7.

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News Network
February 3,2020

New Delhi, Feb 3: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels there are a lot of similarities between the Virat Kohli-led Team India and the Pakistan team when Imran Khan had led it as both captains instill strong self-belief in their respective teams.

Manjrekar also said that Pakistan under Imran had found different ways of winning matches even when it seemed all was lost.

"India under Virat in NZ reminds me of Pakistan under Imran. Strong self belief as a team. Pakistan under Imran found different ways of winning matches, often from losing positions. That only happens when the self belief is strong," Manjrekar tweeted.

The cricketer turned commentator expressed his opinion after India completed a rare 5-0 whitewash with a seven-run victory over New Zealand in the final T20 International in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Manjrekar also lauded KL Rahul, now also shouldering wicket-keeping duty, for his impressive showing in recent times.

"Samson & Pant... the next batting brigade of India obviously have the skill & the power game they just need to infuse a small dose of Virat's batting 'smarts' (mind) into their game," Manjrekar wrote.

The victory at the Bay Oval saw India stretch their record for most successive T20I wins.

This was their eighth win in a row, bettering the previous three instances when they won seven successive matches.

Kohli is the most successful Test captain in Indian cricket history, winning 11 consecutive series at home and are on top of the ICC rankings.

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