Former BCCI anti-corruption unit chief Neeraj Kumar found superstar Virat Kohli's work ethic "matchless" during his tenure with the powerful cricket board.
The former top cop of Delhi worked with the BCCI between 2015 and 2018. His role in the BCCI ACU required him to regularly interact with the cricketers and he found most of them to be nice and approachable.
"Oh there were lots of them. One should be really proud of them. They all gave me a lot of respect. But two people who are not spoken much about are Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ajinkya Rahane, outstanding people, thorough gentlemen," said Kumar during an exclusive interaction with PTI journalists at its headquarters in New Delhi.
Kohli's commitment to the game is second to none and that was not missed on Kumar as well.
"In cricket, Virat Kohli's work ethic is matchless. The way he goes about his training was exemplary," he said.
Asked if the cricketers resorted to foul language, he added: "yes a few of them are fond of using foul language (in Hindi) but I found out this is how they speak. But all of them gave me so much respect unlike members of BCCI. So there are lots of things to cherish," said the 70-year-old.
Kumar, a celebrated IPS officer who served for 37 years, was in charge of Delhi Police when its Special Cell under his guidance arrested former India cricketer S Sreesanth and fellow Rajasthan Royals cricketers Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan on spot-fixing charges.
He was also associated with the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal in 2000 as part of CBI's investigating team.
