Virat Kohli Played Under Tejashwi Yadav’s Captaincy. Fact Or Fiction?

In a recent interview, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav claimed that Virat Kohli has played under his captaincy in the past.

There is factual evidence to back the fact that Tejashwi Yadav has indeed been a teammate of Virat Kohli. But did the India star indeed play under Tejashwi’s captaincy?

Tejashwi Yadavi, the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) leader, claimed in a bombshell interview that Team India star Virat Kohli played under his captaincy. Notably, Tejashwi, who is the son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, used to play cricket in his younger days. He even played age-group cricket for Delhi and then went on to represent Jharkhand in domestic cricket.

There is factual evidence to back the fact that former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar has indeed been a teammate of Kohli. But the 34-year-old has gone one step ahead to claim that he captained the team which featured Kohli.

“I was a cricketer, and no one talks about it. Virat Kohli played in my captaincy — did anyone ever talk about it? Why don’t they do so? As a professional, I played good cricket. Many Team India players are my batchmates,” he told Zee media.

Tejashwi Yadav’s Cricketing Career- Played With Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma

Notably, Tejashwi Yadav was predominantly a middle-order batter. He played one Ranji Trophy match, two List A matches and four T20s. His last competitive match came in the year 2010. He was a right-arm bowler as well and even has a wicket to his name in his 2-match long List A career. Tejashwi even got a contract from the Delhi Daredevils (Now Delhi Capitals) in 2008 but did not play a match for them.

While it is true that Kohli played with him, there is no evidence available to suggest that Kohli played under Tejashwi’s captaincy. In fact, there have been several reports which suggest that Tejashwi played under Kohli’s captaincy.

The same can also be corroborated by a 2019 report carried by Money Control. Tejashwi even made his junior cricket debut under Virat’s captaincy for Delhi U-15 against Jammu and Kashmir in a 2003 match with the same two batters at the crease when Delhi chased down their target of 199. Other than Virat, Tejashwi has also played junior cricket with Ishant Sharma.

If the available records are to be believed, Kohli may not have ever played under Tejashwi as far as official matches are concerned. When it comes to club cricket matches or inter-school fixtures thouh, there could still be a possibility that Kohli might have played under Tejashwi but the records of such matches are not available, so one can’t say with certainty whether or not that has happened.