Fact Check: Did Virat Kohli Play Under Tejashvi Yadav’s Captaincy?

Patna: Tejashvi Yadav dreams of becoming Bihar chief minister, and follow in the footsteps of his parents Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi.

An important leader of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), founded by his father in 1997, Tejashvi has already served as deputy chief minister, from August 2022 to January 2024.

Before becoming a politician, Tejashvi had eyed a different career – that of a professional cricketer.

In fact, he was so focussed on becoming a top cricketer that he dropped out of school – DPS RK Puram, New Delhi – in class X. He did represent Delhi at the U-15, U-17 and U-19 levels and also played a handful of senior domestic matches for Jharkhand.

But his cricket dream died young because of an injury.

A decade after he retired, Tejashvi lamented that his cricket career has been totally forgotten.

In fact, he went on to claim that the great Virat Kohli once played under his captaincy.

“I was a cricketer and no one talks about it. Virat Kohli played under 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,” Tejashvi told Zee Media.

“I had to quit as both ligaments were fractured,” Tejashwi says in a video clip which has gone viral.

The fact is, Tejashvi played 1 first-class, 2 List A and 4 T20 matches in his short career, representing Jharkhand in senior domestic tournaments. So there’s no question of Tejashvi captaining Kohli.

But, Tejashvi did play along with Team India superstar Kohli in Delhi’s junior teams.

Tejashvi made his junior debut under Kohli’s captaincy in 2003, when Delhi boys won the U-15 championship.

Tejashvi went on to lead the Delhi team in U-17 and U-19 competitions.

If he did actually have the chance to be skipper of a team in which Kohli was a member, it could have been in one of those games.

There are no documented records of all those matches at junior level.

But it’s a fact that Tejashvi was contracted by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in the inaugural season of Indian Premier League (IPL), in 2008. He was with the Delhi-based franchise from 2008 to 2012, but did not playing a single game.