Virat Kohli Praises Harry Kane's Ballon d'Or Win as Rahane Recalls Captaincy

Virat Kohli has publicly celebrated the Ballon d'Or victory of his friend, England and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane. The former India captain's social media message highlights a significant personal achievement for the footballer, capping a season where Kane scored a staggering 73 goals in 65 games.

Kohli took to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday to offer his heartfelt congratulations. He directly addressed Kane, praising the striker's long career at the top of world football. "Harry, my friend, you deserve every bit of this award for your resilience, hard work and honesty with which you’ve carried yourself through all these years," Kohli wrote. He extended his best wishes to Kane's family, noting they must be incredibly proud. Kane's 2025-26 season was phenomenal, with 61 goals in 51 matches for Bayern Munich alone, powering them to a Bundesliga title and making him Europe's top scorer.

In a separate but poignant reflection, former India batter Ajinkya Rahane has opened up about the immense pressure he felt taking over the Test captaincy from Virat Kohli. This happened during the iconic 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia after India's disastrous 36 all out in Adelaide. With Kohli returning home for the birth of his child, Rahane was thrust into the leadership role for the final three Tests. He admits now that he was nervous, but knew he had to project confidence. "The most important thing for me was to bluff in front of my teammates, bluff in front of the Aussies, and bluff in front of the media," Rahane recalled. His calm leadership famously inspired a depleted Indian squad to a miraculous 2-1 series victory.

Domestic cricket news sees young Delhi batter Ayush Badoni entering an elite statistical group that includes Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir. Badoni achieved this with back-to-back double centuries in the Ranji Trophy this October. After scoring 217 against Gujarat earlier in the month, he hammered an unbeaten 210 off 228 deliveries against another opponent on October 28, 2026. His aggressive knock allowed Delhi to declare at 515, putting his name alongside two of India's modern batting greats in the record books for Delhi.

• KEY TAKEAWAYS: Virat Kohli publicly congratulated Harry Kane on his 2026 Ballon d'Or win. Ajinkya Rahane revealed he had to 'bluff' his confidence after replacing Kohli as captain in Australia in 2020/21. Youngster Ayush Badoni scored consecutive double centuries for Delhi, joining a list featuring Kohli and Gambhir.