Virat Kohli hopes to visit Pakistan 'soon' in chat with Pakistani mountaineer

In a chat with Pakistani mountaineer Shehroze Kashif, former Indian skipper Virat Kohli expressed hope that he would "soon" visit Pakistan.

Kashif, taking to his Instagram account, shared a video of his interaction with one of the greatest batsmen of this era, Kohli.

In the video, the cricketer’s voice is audible but his face is not visible since it is recorded from the back of the mobile phone.

In the short clip, the star Indian batter is heard saying, "Give my regards to your family and all your friends. Hopefully, we visit Pakistan soon; everyone's started visiting now."

The mountaineer said the video was recorded in 2022 when an Indian national, stranger to him then, met him in Nepal and praised his work.

The Indian man told Kashif about knowing the Indian national team, so the mountaineer “jokingly expressed” his desire to talk to Virat Kohli.

“To my surprise, he messaged Kohli on my behalf, and I had the opportunity to chat with him via video call. As a Pakistani, I proudly acknowledge Kohli as the greatest batsman of this era,” he wrote in the video's caption.

Kashif avoided revealing the name of the person who arranged this online meeting to avoid getting him in trouble for "political reasons".

Over the past 10 years, the right-handed batsman has been India's best player. Kohli made his debut in an ODI match at Dambulla against Sri Lanka in 2008. Since then, he has played in 113 Test matches, 292 ODIs, and 117 T20 matches. He has scored 80 centuries and total 26n733 international runs across formats.

The 35-year-old performed tremendously in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and currently is the highest run-scorer with 661 runs in 13 innings at 66.10 run rate.

Kohli will feature in his team for ICC T20 World Cup, slated to take place in the United States and West Indies next month.

India will start their World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, while the most-anticipated clash with Pakistan will take place on June 9 at the same venue.