Describing himself as a “typical” Delhi boy, India skipper Virat Kohli has said he always remembers where he comes from.
“I am a typical Delhi boy at heart. Wherever I might be in life, I always remember where I come from and what I have gone through to be where I am. That never goes away from me,” he said here on Thursday while receiving the CNN-News 18 Indian of The Year Award.
“No expectations, no milestones… there is a simple mindset. I just go there and do my duty. I don’t believe in tags and comparisons.”
“For me the joy of life is just watching that ball and hitting it from the middle of the bat,” he said.
Kohli was also given the ‘Popular Choice’ award.
Badminton player Srikanth Kidambi won CNN-News18 Indian of the Year 2017 award in sports category.
Afroz Shah, Mumbai-based lawyer and champion of one of the largest citizen-driven environment programme, won the award in the field of ‘Public Service’.
In entertainment, it was actor Rajkummar Rao, who won the award defeating Varun Dhawan, and ‘Team Baahubali’.
While receiving the award, Rajkummar spoke about the ongoing controversy around Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati.
“We should not make any perceived notions about a movie before watching it. Without watching it, you can’t really say if the historical facts have been distorted.
“The same goes for other films as well.
“No comments about the film (Padmavati) in particular. Nobody is trying to distort the facts probably,” he said.
“Baahubali” and its team were given the award for ‘Outstanding Achievement’ of the year.
In the business category, the winner was Acharya Balkrishnan, CEO of the Yoga guru Ramdev-run Patanjali.
Former cricketer and Indian coach Ravi Shastri was awarded for ‘Special Achievement’.
Indian Women’s Cricket Team and Manushi Chhillar, who won the Miss World 2017 title, were also awarded in the same category.