3 min readJul 21, 2026 01:09 PM IST
England batsman Jacob Bethell has described Virat Kohli as a ‘chilled out’ person off the field and a ‘massive leader’ within the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) dressing room, throwing light on his ability to shift from being an ultra-competitive player on the field to being a normal person away from it.
“Away from cricket and off the field, he’s actually a very chilled individual. You know, great to talk to, great to spend time around. But it’s just that ability to then flip into that competitive nature in and around cricket or training.”
“His lifestyle is very… Everything is… All the arrows are pointed in high performance, in a way of high performance, right? So he gives himself the best chance. But, yeah, he’s an ultra-competitive person. He wasn’t captain, you know, when I was there, but he’s a massive leader within the team,” Bethell said on the “Super Over” podcast.
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The left-hander also spoke about how Kohli took an active part in team meetings and shared a lot of information with others.
“Yeah, on the field, he’s very animated. But team meetings, that kind of stuff, he shares unbelievable information, which is just… When you’re around people like that, you just want to kind of be a sieve and take in all that information,” he added.
Bethell also recalled his first experience of playing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in the IPL, saying that he had never heard a sound so loud after striking a boundary.
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“That was crazy. I remember being really nervous before. It was only my first game in front of home fans. I was nervous to say the least. But as soon as I got onto the ground, I just felt a sense of excitement. I ran drinks for quite a lot of the competition. Looking at the atmosphere and wanting to get a piece of it. We (him and Kohli) were walking out to bat. I can only hear myself think…the place is bouncing, there is no gap in it. You feel like they are on top of you. Luckily enough, we managed to put on a few runs; I scored a few, he scored a few. I remember I hit my second ball for four and I have never heard a sound that loud,” he said.
