Virat Kohli recently ended his Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy drought with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) after guiding them to a win in the final against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in June.
His 18-year association with RCB has seen many stars come and go from the franchise, which includes former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor.
In their time together at the franchise, the duo batted together on 11 occasions, adding 207 runs, with a highest partnership of 56 runs in a successful chase of 132 against the Chennai Super Kings.
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During his time as an RCB player, Taylor saw Kohli grow around himself and international stars like Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher, among others. The Kiwi batter felt the youngster looked OK before he went on to score over 27,000 international runs.
Here's what Taylor had to say about his first impressions of Kohli.
Ross Taylor shared his views on young Virat Kohli
While speaking to India Today, the 41-year-old spoke about his early conversations with former Australia cricketer Cameron White about the potential they saw in Kohli as a teenager.
Taylor also revealed having a soft spot for Kohli after seeing the Indian take his early strides as a top-level cricketer and enjoying the franchise win their first title after a long wait.
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"He was a very young 18 to 19-year-old, slightly chubby Virat Kohli. Cameron White said, ‘watch this guy? He's going to be world class’. He looked OK," said Taylor.
"But he's turned out to be a fantastic player, obviously very loyal to RCB, but also, what he's done to Indian cricket and world cricket has been fantastic. I suppose I've always had a soft spot because I've seen him grow up from a teenager. So it's obviously it's nice for RCB to get across the line this year and finally win the IPL," he added.
Taylor spent the first three seasons with Kohli in Bengaluru as one of the star players and scored 669 runs in 26 innings at an unprecedented strike rate of 150.67 for the era.
Cameron White, on the other hand, who saw early signs of greatness in Kohli, scored 162 runs in 15 matches for RCB during his time with them in 2008-10.
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Kohli went on to lead India across formats, reaching multiple knockout stages in ICC tournaments and a World Test Championship final in 2021, where Taylor's New Zealand clinched the title.