Hamilton: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday (February 4) said American basketball legend Kobe Bryant’s death has put life in perspective for him. He said “life can be so fickle” and “so unpredictable”.

Kobe and his daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash, recently. The 41-year-old was one of the greats of basketball.

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Kohli, who spoke to the media on the eve of the first ODI against New Zealand, said he used to watch NBA games involving Kobe.

“Firstly, it was a shock to everyone. I grew up watching those NBA games in the morning and watching what he did on court. But when someone that you have looked up to in some ways, passes away like that, it does put things in perspective,” Kohli told reporters.

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“Life can be so fickle. It's so unpredictable. I think a lot of the times we get too caught up in the pressures of what we have to do tomorrow...we really forget living life and enjoying life and just appreciating and being grateful for the life we have,” the Delhi right-hander added.

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The skipper said it was important to enjoy every moment of life. “It did put things in perspective for me massively. It just makes you feel like not wanting to have control of things in front of you all the time, and just embracing life and appreciating it.

“You start looking at things from a different point of view suddenly and you want to enjoy every moment you're going through. You realise that what you're doing at the end of the day is not the most important thing. The most important thing is life itself.”

India and New Zealand will play three ODIs and later two Tests. India won the T20I series 5-0 for a historic whitewash.