India, March 24 -- Vishal Nishad is looking forward to facing his idol Virat Kohli in his debut IPL campaign. Signed by Punjab Kings, the mystery spinner was purchased at his base price of Rs.30 lakh. He was unsold in the first round, but in the third round, PBKS raised the paddle. A huge fan of Kohli, he also wanted his jersey number (18), but teammate Priyansh Arya has already taken it. So he has gone for 81 instead.

During his glittering career, Kohli has often struggled against spin. Although he has shown improvements in his T20 strike rate against spin, opposition skippers tend to use spinners against the veteran.

"I haven't met him yet, but I will face him twice this season," said Nishad, while speaking on PBKS' YouTube channel. ...