Indian cricketer Virat Kohli on Tuesday (Mar 19) urged his fans to stop calling him “King”, saying he felt embarrassed by the popular monicker bestowed upon him. Kohli was addressing the fans gathered at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium where RCB was rechristened as Royal Challengers Bengaluru. 

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Kohli walked to the stage as the boisterous crowd went berserk and started chanting his name. Upon being asked how he was feeling after returning to the cricket field post the birth of his second child, Kohli said it was “lovely to be back again”. 

Upon hearing their star player’s statement, the crowd went crazy yet again and ‘Kohli, Kohli’ chants started reverberating across the stadium.

A visibly elated Kohli, playfully told the crowd: “Let me talk. Guys, we have to get to Chennai tonight we have a chartered flight so we don’t have time (laughs).”

“Firstly, you need to stop calling me that word (King). Please call me Virat. Don’t call me that word (king), I was just telling Faf du Plessis that I feel embarrassed every year when you call me that word. So just call me Virat, please, from now on, don’t use that word, it’s very embarrassing for me,” Kohli added.

Having made his India debut in 2008 and stayed with RCB since then, Kohli has become a fan favourite across the globe. Owing to his throughouly imposing nature on the field, fans refer to him as ‘King’ and it has become associated with his name. 

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Notably, Tuesday wasn’t the first instance when Kohli urged the fans to not call him ‘king’.  

“It’s sweet. I know why they are saying it, but I don’t prefer it. I like to be called by my own name, Virat,” he said last years on RCB Insider show. 

“People tell me King out of love, but I personally don’t prefer it. Like ‘Ee Sala Cup Namdhe’, don’t say ‘King’,” he added. 

RCB rechristened

After urging the crowd, Kohli alongside skipper Faf du Plessis and women’s team captain Smriti Mandhana unveiled the new jersey and name. 

Notably, the state government of Karnataka in 2014 changed the name of the city to Bengaluru from Bangalore. Since then, there had been demands that the franchise management change the name but the team stuck with the name adopted in 2008, during the inaugural edition. 

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