Nick Compton reveals how England wound up Virat Kohli over his ex-girlfriend

All the cricketing events have either been postponed or suspended since mid-March due to the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) across the world.

The pandemic has allowed former, current cricketers to reflect on their careers and thus every now and then fans get to hear interesting stories.

Recently, former England opener Nick Compton recalled about an incident of ‘sledging’ he had with Indian batsman Virat Kohli over the latter’s love life during the 2012 Test series.

Speaking on the Edges and Sledges Cricket Podcast, Compton said: “I definitely got a few words from Virat Kohli during the series. I think I bumped into his ex-girlfriend at the time before the series when out for an evening with Kevin Pietersen and myself, Yuvraj Singh … all of us were there, and she was there.

“I just chatted to her and the word got back that I was speaking to her, and I don’t think Virat Kohli was very happy with that. He had a few words to say to me every time I walked out to bat. He was trying to say that it was his girlfriend, and she was saying that it was her ex-boyfriend. It was like, ‘Who’s got the story right here,’ you know what I mean?”

Compton further claimed the English players tried to rile Kohli by talking about it whenever he was batting.

“It was quite funny at the time, and the players in our England camp caught hold of it. We used it as a way to keep winding him up and, you know, trying to get in his head.

“But he’s a world-class performer, and he came back and scored a good hundred in the last [game in Nagpur]. And obviously his career has gone on from strength to strength. But it was a funny joke that we had throughout the series and something that I always smile about. But everything was in good faith,” he said.

In the series, Compton managed to score 208 runs in four matches at an average of 34.67 with a top score of 57 in the third Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It was also the series when Compton made his debut for the Three Lions. He went on to play 16 Tests, scoring 775 runs with the highest score of 117 against New Zealand in Dunedin.

Back then Kohli was also in the initial days of his Test career. From the personal front, Kohli’s life changed in 2013 when he met Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma. They featured together in an advertisement and tied the knots in December 2017. Currently, they are one of the most talked-about celebrity couples in India.

However, when Anushka was busy dating Ranveer Singh, Virat wasn’t single either. The cricketer was dating a Brazilian model Izabelle Leite.

Izabelle Leite and Virat Kohli |Twitter
The relationship between the two lasted for a few years. The couple was often spotted in each other’s company. Interestingly, Virat even wrote, “Te Amoo” which means “I Love you” in one of his text messages to her.