Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion and record five-time Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, told Indian broadcaster Times Now at the Laureus Sports Awards in Madrid this Monday that Virat Kohli alone convinced him to start following cricket, a sport he had never previously paid much attention to.
Serbia has no great cricketing tradition, and Djokovic makes no pretence of always having understood the game. But that changed, he says, the moment a certain Indian batter came into his life.
“Yes, Virat is a friend and someone I respect and admire,” Djokovic told Times Now. “Actually, honestly, he made me start following cricket. I didn’t follow cricket before. Because of him, I follow it more.”
That is one of the more extraordinary admissions in recent sporting history. The greatest tennis player the world has ever seen, sitting at an awards ceremony surrounded by legends from every discipline, crediting a batter from Delhi for opening his eyes to a game most Serbians cannot name the positions for.
The friendship itself carries a certain charm. The two men have been texting for several years and have never actually met in person. It started, as so many modern sporting connections do, through social media. Kohli revealed he had messaged Djokovic after spotting his Instagram profile only to discover Djokovic had already sent him a message first, sitting unread in his DMs.
From that accidental double-message, something genuine grew. The friendship reached a new level when Djokovic posted an Instagram story celebrating Kohli’s 50th ODI century against New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup semi-finals. Kohli noticed, and the mutual appreciation has only deepened since.
Djokovic is already thinking about what happens next. “We keep in touch,” he told Times Now, “and I hope when I go, I don’t want to say if, but when I go to India, hopefully he will join me. We will play a bit of tennis and cricket, have some fun and celebrate sport with positive and good feelings.”
