Virat Kohli Cricket

While cricketers have gone on to win hearts with their feats on the field, their debut in hospitality is often met with failure.

“Yes, going to a celebrity restaurant might be fun, and fans might come through the doors at least one time just for the star factor, but repeat customers is the name of this game and once the novelty wears off and the star-struck diners leave, restaurants need to rely on their food, ambience, and location to stay afloat. And while opening a restaurant is relatively easy, the hard part is creating one that has lasting appeal. Virat Kohli who roared back to form with the recent T20 World Cup has converted 'Gouri Kunj', the bungalow of legendary singer Kishore Kumar into his restaurant One8 Commune named after his cricket jersey number, 18. The restaurant failed to make any sense to diners.The latest one to perish is Virat Kohli’s restaurant Nueva, that he launched in 2017 in Delhi. He sold the licensing rights to his name as a brand to Franchise India Holdings Ltd in 2009. As a strategic move, the company decided to underplay Harbhajan’s name while starting the chain of restaurants – Bhajji Da Dhabba. The Indian fast bowler went on to expand his restaurant business in 2013 with Toss Sports Lounge in the same city. Both his fine-dine restaurant and the sports lounge are part of his larger business called Zaheer Khan's Hospitality Pvt. But then Sehwag ran out of form and the diner ran out of customers. [Kumar Sangakkara](https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/tags/kumar-sangakkara.html). Sehwag not only closed the restaurant but also moved court against his partner and his firm Creative Strides Taste Buds Pvt. Their prowess on the pitch, doesn’t naturally translate to their food business.