India’s batting maestro Virat Kohli is planning to settle in England with his wife, Anushka Sharma and two children, Akay and Vamika, Indian media reported on Friday.
According to a report, Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma lifted lid on Kohli’s plan to start a new chapter in his life, stating that the 36-year-old will be ‘leaving India very soon’.
"Yes, Virat plans to move to London with his children and wife, Anushka Sharma. He is going to be leaving India and shifting very soon. However, right now, Kohli is spending most of his time with his family apart from cricket," Sharma said.
Notably, Kohli and his family spent most of this year abroad. The star batter returned to India to celebrate the men in blue’s drought-ending ICC Men’s T20 World Cup victory in June and accompanied the team for the ODI series against Sri Lanka next month.
Following the series, Kohli boarded a flight to London and stayed there until August.
Kohli, who has retired from the T20Is, is going through a rough patch in the longer formats, prompting discussions among fans and experts over his future in the sport.
Reflecting on his future earlier this year, Kohli discussed about his retirement plans during a conversation with his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
"It's quite simple," Kohli had said in a chat with RCB. "I think as a sportsman, we do have an end-date to our careers. So I am just working backwards. I don't want to finish my career thinking 'oh, what if I have done this on that particular day' because I can't keep going on and on forever.
"So it's just about not leaving any undone business behind and not have any regrets later, which I am sure I won't."
"Once I am done, I will be gone, you won't see me for a while (smiles). So I want to give it everything I have till the time I play, and that's the only thing that keeps me going," he said.
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.- Virat Kohli