India's Kohli says father refused to bribe way into team
India captain Virat Kohli has told how his late father refused to pay a bribe to get him right into a Delhi state junior team when he was a teenager.
The world's top ranked one-day batsman didn't identify who had demanded the bribe but said he was rejected by the team, a rebuff that left him "broken".
"In my home state... sometimes things happen that aren't fair," the days of India newspaper and other media quoted Kohli as saying during an online forum with India's football captain Sunil Chhetri.
"On one occasion, a certain person did not play by the rules for selection criteria," the skipper added.
"He told my father while I had the merit, a little extra (bribe) was needed to confirm my selection."
But Kohli said his father had insisted the choice had to be on merit alone.
"My dad simply said, 'If you intend to select Virat then let it be purely on merit. I'll offer you nothing extra.'"
Kohli said he was in tears after being told he previously not made the team. "I cried a lot. I was broken," he declared.
"That incident taught me a whole lot. I realised that this is the way the world is run," he was quoted as saying.
"If you want to advance, do something that no person else is doing. EASILY had to become successful, I needed to be extraordinary.
"And I had to do this purely through my very own effort and effort.
"My dad showed me the correct way through his actions and not merely words. Those little things had an excellent effect on me," Kohli was quoted as saying.
Kohli's father, an attorney, died when he was 18 and playing in a Ranji Trophy state match for Delhi. He returned to bat your day after his father's death.
"I accepted his death as I was centered on continue with my career," Kohli said.
"His death made me realise I had to create something of my entire life. Now I think about how precisely nice it might be if I could have given my dad the calm retired life he deserved. Sometimes I get emotional considering him."
