'I checked it again'- Novak Djokovic replies to kind words of Virat Kohli ahead of 3rd T20I against Afghanistan

Novak Djokovic, one of the best tennis players ever, prepares for the year's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open 2024. As the tennis star began his preparations for the two-week competition, he received a good luck message from India's marquee cricketer Virat Kohli. The Indian Cricket Board released a video in which Kohli expressed his appreciation for Djokovic and recounted an intriguing story about his first encounter with the Serbian tennis great.

After seeing the video spread like wildfire on social media, Djokovic responded. Kohli claimed in the video that he once made the spontaneous decision to message Djokovic on Instagram. To his amazement, the tennis star had already messaged him, signalling the start of their friendship. Djokovic also congratulated Kohli on his 50th ODI century in an Instagram story, a gesture that struck deeply with the Indian cricket legend.

But then I checked it again and it was legitimate: Virat Kohli

"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 twitter 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, 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.

"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 epitome of supreme fitness allowing them to excel even in their mid 30s.

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