3 min readNov 1, 2026 08:25 PM ISTVirat Kohli in action. (FILE photo)Royal Challengers Bengaluru seamer Jacob Duffy heaped praise on Virat Kohli. The New Zealand seamer was awestruck by the star and called him a “religious” figure. As the Indian ODI team reached New Zealand, Duffy said he ran into Kohli in the gym.“I got to see him [Kohli] yesterday. He was in the gym, obviously, so running into him there was cool, but he was awesome to me. Obviously, for such a religious figure, I guess you almost say, in India, he is obviously a megastar over there; for him to be so down-to-earth and sort of welcome all of us overseas guys in RCB was pretty cool, so very appreciative of him for that,” Duffy said while speaking to the media.“It will be awesome to play against him now that I have sort of shared a changing room with him as well. He has got a great work ethic. Obviously, I bowled a lot to him in the nets because he was always the first batter and I was always the first bowler,” Duffy added.Last world cupKohli has confirmed that the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa and Zimbabwe will be his final one. He said playing in that tournament will be his motivation.“For me, it’s the last World Cup I’m going to play for India,” Kohli told broadcaster JioStar on Saturday.“That is my motivation and like, you know, to leave everything out there. And of course, the goal is absolutely to win the World Cup and whatever it takes, I’m absolutely ready,” he added.Kohli has scored 15109 runs in the 50-over format, second only to his fellow countryman Sachin Tendulkar’s 18,426 runs on the all-time top-scorer list. Kohli won the World Cup on home soil in 2011 before suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the 2023 final against Australia.Story continues below this adThe upcoming World Cup will be Kohli’s fifth ODI World Cup. “The intensity of a 50-over World Cup is greater than anything. Because now, it’s about 10 games at a Twenty20 level of intensity,” he said.“But you are playing 2.5 T20 games in one day. And to maintain that intensity for 10 games in a big tournament and World Cup is a big deal. Also now, it’s in foreign conditions. It takes a lot out of you,” he added.© The Indian Express Pvt LtdStay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.Tags:Virat KohliAdvertisementLoading Recommendations...AdvertisementAdvertisement