'Chiku' Virat Kohli reveals the story behind his nickname
Virat Kohli has finally revealed the story behind his nickname 'Chiku' and how MS Dhoni popularised his name, shouting it from behind the wicket during matches.
On Thursday during a chat session on Instagram Kohli told Kevin Pietersen "MS (Dhoni) has sort of made my nickname famous from behind the stumps. In the stumps' mic, people pick up,"
He revealed that it was his first-class cricket coach who nicknamed him 'Chiku'.
"I got this nickname from a coach in the Ranji Trophy. I used to have big cheeks then. In 2007, I thought I was losing hair. I got my hair cropped and my cheeks and ears stood out. I got the name from a cartoon character. The rabbit in the comic book Champak," he said.
Pietersen has also shared a picture of Kohli's younger days and asked him about the photo. To which Kohli laughed and said "I don't recognise him anymore. We did have a lot of fun then. 2009 and 2010 you (Pietersen) were with us and we really hit off from day 1. And we had a gun team with Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis."
Kohli also shared the reason why he turned vegan, and said it is the best decision he made in his life.
"In 2018, I got a cervical spine issue. I could barely feel my finger and I could not sleep the body was acidic, my stomach started pulling calcium from my bones and my bones got weaker. I cut down uric acid from my body and I left meat. That is the best decision I have made in my life. I have never felt better waking up. I can play 3 games a week and can recover within a day after a Test match and go on another," he said.