Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra

Team India’s star batsman Virat Kohli recently opened up on his frustration during the trying times in his career. In a conversation with teammate and close friend Suryakumar Yadav, Kohli revealed what he experienced during the tough period.

Following a prolonged lean patch over the last few seasons, Kohli is now back to his best with two centuries within a month. He opened up on the changes in his behaviour during struggles on the field and how it affected his near and dear ones, including wife and Bollywood star Anushka Sharma.

Talking to India’s 360-degree batsman Suryakumar, Kohli revealed that when his form dipped, frustration started creeping in and how his game was very far away and desires and detachments had totally taken over him.

The star batter said he realised that his denial had given rise to crankiness and frustration which was not fair for anyone around him including Anushka Sharma.

“Sometimes what happens is people look at you differently. Now, when Surya goes out to play, people think Surya will do it. Keeping up with that is a very intense process. And sometimes what happens is, when you’re playing cricket well, your form is good, and all those things flow well,” said Kohli.

“But when it dips a little, in my case, frustration started creeping in. Because I wanted to play in the same fashion and people have this expectation, so I play like this, I should play like this, I will have to play like this,” he added.

“But cricket didn’t allow me to play in that fashion. It was a different time for me. And because of that, where my game was, it was very far away. Because my desires and attachments had totally taken over,” he further added.

The former India captain soon realised that he can’t be away from who he is. 

“I have to be true to myself. Even when I am vulnerable and not playing well, I’m the worst player around, I have to accept it. I can’t be in denial. Because in denial, in my case, a lot of frustration was creeping in and I was getting very cranky, and very snappy in my space, which wasn’t good at all. I did not feel it was fair to anyone around me including Anushka and my close ones. It is not fair to the people that support you and are with you all the time to keep seeing you in that space. I had to take responsibility and put things in perspective,” Kohli said.
 

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