• Source:JND
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Tennis star Novak Djokovic gears up for the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open 2024, he received a good luck greeting from India's marquee cricketer Virat Kohli.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently shared a video where Kohli spoke about his admiration for Djokovic and also narrated the story behind the first communication with the Serbian tennis star.

The video received a huge amount of love across social media platforms as netizens acknowledged the recognition and respect among superstars from different sports for each other.

 

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In the video, Kohli revealed that he once organically decided to send a message to Djokovic on Instagram. But he got to know that the Tennis star had already messaged him, marking the beginning of their virtual friendship.

"I got in touch with Novak very organically, I was just looking at his profile once on Instagram and I just happened to press the message button. I thought I'll just say hello, maybe," Kohli revealed on BCCI 'X' ahead of his T20 comeback against Afghanistan at Indore.

"And then I saw a message from him on my DM already. I never opened it myself. So, the first time I saw my own messages myself, I saw, he messaged me himself. And I was like, let me just check if it's a fake account or something like that.

 

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"But then I checked it again and it was legitimate. And then, yeah, we got talking. We keep exchanging messages every now and then. I congratulated him for all his amazing achievements." The two athletes quickly found common ground, regularly exchanging congratulatory messages on their respective achievements. They both are also an epitome of supreme fitness allowing them to excel even in their mid-30s.

Responding to the video on X (formerly Twitter), Djokovic said: "Thank you for these kind words @imVkohli Looking forward to the day we play together."

Kohli had also opened up on the instance when Djokovic congratulated him on his 50th ODI century, by posting an Instagram story.

"When I got my 50th century recently, he put out a story and he sent me a very nice message as well. So, there's been mutual admiration and respect.

"It's really nice to connect with global athletes who are, you know, excelling at a high level. And I think, collectively, what I think about it is sending out a message of inspiration to the next generation in a way.

"I have a lot of respect for him, his journey, his passion for fitness, something that I dearly follow myself and believe in a lot. So there's a lot to connect on.

"Hopefully If he comes to India sooner, I happen to be in a country where he is playing. I will definitely catch up with him and just chill out and maybe have a cup of coffee."