‘I’ll bring it up when I see him’: Kane Richardson opens up on Virat Kohli, peanut butter and his World Cup win over Pakistani teammate
Most Sixers players were starstruck when they met new teammate Babar Azam. But a breakfast ritual with Virat Kohli has one man ready to handle the hype that’s about to hit the BBL.
Several Sixers players almost seemed overawed about playing alongside T20 legend Babar Azam in this year’s Big Bash League, but this is nothing new for Kane Richardson who was once given special treatment by cricketing royalty.
While Azam boasts 6.3m Instagram followers and is so popular that there’s a dedicated stand for him at the SCG called ‘Babaristan’, even the Pakistani great takes a back seat to Indian legend Virat Kohli.
Richardson got to play with Kohli in the Indian Premier League when he was picked up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), and he was looked after properly by the run-scoring machine who wanted to make sure he felt comfortable at breakfast.
“He’d bring a new jar of something. One day it would be peanut butter, the next day it would be almond butter, and then there would be something organic made in India,” Richardson told NewsWire.
“He had his own suppliers and I think he felt bad for us Aussies at breakfast so he’d get local companies to bring it to him and then he’d bring it to us to eat.
“I think he thought that we weren’t eating, but I don’t know why because they had peanut butter at breakfast already.
“He managed to get us better stuff. It was really good stuff, but we’re probably a bit more spoilt for choice here in Australia (so I haven’t had to ask for more).”
Richardson is looking forward to playing with Azam, with the pair going way back to the 2010 under-19s World Cup where Australia defeated Pakistan in the final.
“He was an off-spinner back then and I don’t know how much he batted so times have well and truly changed in the last 15 years,” the former Aussie quick said.
“I actually hit him for six and top-scored in that game in the final so I’ll bring it up when I see him.
“He’s not bowling much these days, and probably for good reason.”
Azam opened the batting that day and has since become the most prolific T20 international scorer with 4429 runs at an average of nearly 40.
It’s why his Sixers teammates were in awe of the superstar batter when they met him at training this week ahead of Sunday’s first game in Perth.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Sixers all-rounder Hayden Kerr said when asked what it would be like to play with someone as talented as Azam.
“Having that international experience is one thing and then watching him play on the field is another.
“It’s going to be pretty surreal standing next to him out in the field. I’m not sure how that’s going to sit with me.
“I probably won’t say too much to him and let him go about his business. It’ll be really good to watch.”
Originally published as ‘I’ll bring it up when I see him’: Kane Richardson opens up on Virat Kohli, peanut butter and his World Cup win over Pakistani teammate
