Asia Cup 2022: Not feeling any shame that I was feeling mentally – Virat Kohli

India’s talisman batter Virat Kohli has admitted that he was feeling mentally weak when he was going through a rough patch. Kohli is known to give his 120% on the field and he feels he was faking his intensity. The former Indian captain revealed he didn’t even touch his bat for a month and he is feeling light now after taking a break from the game.

It is well known that Kohli is a mentally tough guy but he revealed that there is no shame in admitting he was a bit down in the last few months. The right-hander added that faking to be strong is worse than admitting to being weak.

Kohli has always been a consistent performer for the Indian team in all three forms of the game but the runs have dried up in the last couple of years for him. He scored his last International century against Bangladesh in November 2019.

Furthermore, he didn’t have a great IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore as he could only manage 341 runs in 16 matches. Ergo, things have gone south for the veteran batter and it has not been easy for him to deal with pressure.

Kohli said on Star Sports, “I’m feeling light now for sure, and it wasn’t just about the workload of cricket. Many other factors on the outside as well, which contribute to me going into that. Because you are playing with passion, with heart, but on the outside the perception is different and the value of these things is not being understood.”

“And intensity, as you said, I didn’t even realise I was faking it. I was trying to push myself into a zone of competitiveness. I am a person who wakes up and feels like, ‘Okay, let’s see what the day has for me,’ and be part of everything. My going through the day includes absolute presence, involvement, and that’s who I have always been.”

“People ask me about how do you do this on the field, and how do you carry on with so much intensity, I just tell them I love playing the game and I love the fact that I have so much to contribute to every ball, and I would give every inch of my energy on the field and for me, it never felt abnormal.

“A lot of people on the outside watched me, and even within the team, they asked me how do you keep up with it? And I just say: ‘simple thing, I want to make my team win at any cost, and if that means that I’m gasping for breath when I walk off the field, so be it.”

Meanwhile, India’s match against Pakistan will be the 100th T20I for Virat Kohli and he will become only the second player after Ross Taylor to play at least 100 matches in all three forms of the game.