Virat Kohli Meets Eknath Shinde In London, Discusses Sports And Maharashtra Development; VIDEO

London, September 11: Indian cricket star Virat Kohli met Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in London on Friday. During the meeting, the two discussed sports, infrastructure and various welfare schemes run by the Maharashtra government.

Speaking to ANI after the meeting, Shinde described Kohli as a "down-to-earth" person. He said he was happy to meet the star batter and discuss Maharashtra’s development and plans for the future.

Shinde said he spoke to Kohli about major infrastructure projects in the state, including the Atal Setu, Samruddhi Mahamarg, coastal road, metro projects and the proposed 'Third Mumbai' development near the airport. They also discussed initiatives in education and healthcare.

The Deputy CM said the two also spoke about helping young people improve their skills and perform well in competitions. Kohli shared ideas on how to support and develop young talent, which Shinde said could benefit Maharashtra and the country.

Kohli has been in good form in ODIs this year. He has scored 384 runs in six innings at an average of 64, including one century and three fifties. During the ODI series in England in August, he scored 144 runs in three innings, with a best score of 74.

The 37-year-old batter will next be seen in action in the ODI series against the West Indies, starting September 27. He currently has 85 international centuries and is chasing the 100-century mark, a feat achieved only by Sachin Tendulkar so far.

Kohli has scored 14,941 runs in 314 ODIs at an average of 58.59. He has 54 ODI centuries and 79 fifties. He needs just 59 more runs to become only the second batter to score 15,000 runs in ODI cricket.