Four years ago, England women’s cricketer Danielle Wyatt drew the attention of Indian cricket fans when she tweeted a marriage proposal for star batsman Virat Kohli.
“Kholi (sic) marry me!’ she had written on her Twitter feed following a fine innings by the now-India captain during the World T20. What followed was an intense scrutiny of her playful tweet, which was retweeted and liked thousands of times. News channels in India ran segments on the episode as fans were left wondering if the tweet had more subtext.
A lot has changed since then. Kohli is now married to actor Anushka Sharma. On the field, though, both are breaking records for their respective teams.
The focus, though, is back on Wyatt who is set to reach Indian shores soon as England take on India and Australia in a T20 tri-series involving India and Australia which begins later this next month. While her proposal to Kohli might not have been received as well as she had hoped it would, her arrival in India will not be bereft of a Kohli connection. The series will mark the first time that she will use a bat gifted to her by the India captain.
The pair had met during India’s tour of England in 2014. During the “awkward” meeting Kohli pulled her up (politely), but won her heart with a prized gift.
“When we met, he said to me: ‘You can’t do things like that on Twitter! They take things seriously!’ I was like, ‘okay. Sorry!’” she was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Wyatt now plans to use the bat when she opens the innings for her team in the T20 series in India. She hopes the bat comes into good use and helps her score another century in the shortest format. The last time Wyatt score a century came against Australia and was also the first time that an England women’s cricketer had smashed a hundred in a T20.
“The bat I hit the century with broke not long ago,” she explained. “So now I’ll be using Virat’s.”
Wyatt and England will hope the Kohli connection serves them well when they touch base in India.