Former Indian captain Virat Kohli has decided to open another plush restaurant under the chain ‘One8 Commune’. The chain has restro-bars in cities such as Delhi, Pune and Kolkata. It derives its name ‘One8 Commune’ from Kohli’s jersey number 18.
The restaurant will be opened in Mumbai and Kohli has already taken a large part of Kishore Kumar’s bungalow – ‘Gouri Kunj’ – on lease for this purpose. The duration of lease is five years.
The bungalow, located in Mumbai’s Juhu area, is undergoing major renovation & uplift and the restaurant is likely to start from next month. The Juhu space which Kohli has leased already had a restaurant in the premises. It was called ‘B Mumbai’, but is closed now.
Apparently, Kohli met Leena Chandavarkar’s son Sumeet some months ago and sealed the deal after a few conversations.
The 33-year-old has business interests in diverse sectors such as clothing, fragrances, shoes and hospitality under the ‘One8’ brand. He is also an investor and brand ambassador of Rage Coffee.
At present, Kohli is in UAE with the Indian team for the Asia Cup. In the last match against Hong Kong, he smashed an unbeaten fifty and showed signs of snapping back to form.
Apart from Kohli, there are many Indian cricketers who won restaurants. The former cricketer Kapil Dev has a restaurant called Elevens in Patna. The reliable all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who hails from Gujarat, has a restaurant in Rajkot called ‘Jaddu’s Food Field’. Former cricketers such as Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan also own restaurants.
Reportedly, Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma also purchased a 8-acre farmhouse in Alibaug for Rs 19.24 crore. The couple has already deposited Rs 1.15 crore to the government treasury. On the work front, Anushka will be seen next in woman cricketer Jhulan Goswami’s biopic ‘Chakda Xpress’.