Virat Kohli, the star cricketer for Team India and Royal Challengers Bangalore, is in some of the best batting form of his career currently. But just a few months ago, the former Indian captain was in the midst of a massive slump as a batter, not scoring a professional hundred for the better part of three years.
Recently, for JioCinema, the official streaming platform for the IPL 2023, Virat Kohli gave a sit-down interview with Robin Uthappa, in which he talked about his low phase as a batter and how he overcame it. The RCB opener is set to play the last league stage match of the IPL campaign against GT at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on May 21, with a playoff spot on the line.
“The most important factor during that transitional period before the Asia Cup last year was the fact that I was willing to let go of everything. I was willing to accept that when I go back and play, it might be the last month of me playing competitive cricket and I am absolutely okay with it. I am happy with where God has put me and I wasn’t in a desperate space. Everything became enjoyable and I found that excitement all over again. It only happened because I let go of my insecurities,” remarked Kohli about his low phase as a batter.
The former RCB captain detailed his feeling about his return to Indian Colours at the Asia Cup (T20I Edition) in 2022 and said, “When I came back, I was excited, I was happy, I started batting well. I didn’t want the hundred at all, to be honest.”
Virat Kohli also talked about how he scored his first international century against Afghanistan in nearly three years. He told Robin Uthappa, “The Afghanistan game happened and Rahul (Dravid) bhai asked, ‘Are you keen to open tomorrow?’ I said, a hundred per cent. I would love to get the opportunity, I opened and I started hitting the ball. In the moment the hundred happened, I actually laughed because for a year and a half, I was so desperately after this moment and when it happened, it was like this (snaps fingers). I laughed so hard because I felt like I wasted a year and half of my life for this moment and it’s gone in a fraction of a second.”
