Virat Kohli is considered as one of the greatest batsman of now and has already made a name for himself in the sporting world. Kohli has amassed the second-most international tonnes in history with 74 during his spectacular 15-year career, with 12809 runs in 271 ODIs, 8195 runs in 108 Test matches, and 4008 runs in 115 T20I outings.
Even though the numbers appear to be heavenly, the run wasn’t always smooth. Speaking on the inaugural episode of the RCB Podcast season 2, Kohli recalled a time when he worried about being dropped from the Indian team and contemplated returning to first-class cricket in order to regain his spot.
In this passage, Kohli discusses the Test match against Australia in Perth in 2012. At the time, Kohli had a concern of losing his place in the Indian side following a bright start to his career.
“When we came in Perth, at first glance of the surface, we knew that it was going to be a really difficult wicket to bat on since there was plenty of pace and bounce on offer,” added Virat. In addition to these two being a batter’s worst nightmare, there was also a lot of grass, which made matters worse. And I was aware that I had no chance of playing in the fourth Test if I didn’t do well in this one. I’ll probably have to return to first-class cricket and work my way up the ladder once more.
So I recall very well that there was a lot of animosity when I left Sydney, he said. The atmosphere becomes quite tense, especially if you lose the first two Test matches of a series in Australia. Everyone is obviously under a lot of strain, and when you are on your first tour of Australia and you notice everyone else is, you may feel as though you have no chance in this country.
Virat continued, “That is because I am the most inexperienced on the team and the entire team is feeling that way. How will I reverse this situation? I recall that I developed some resilience in such challenging situation. Hang on, I commanded myself. If I think differently, perhaps I can be different. I then entered my personal space. I’ve been strolling by myself for a long time. In a coffee shop, I also sat. I recall that I always had my music playing when I got on the bus or into a practise session. I kept telling myself that by the time I had eight ODI hundreds.
I convinced myself that I could compete at this level. I told myself, “I can handle this if I can achieve 8 hundreds in ODI cricket.”
When a person overcomes these peculiar lows and puts on a performance to remember, that is what defines them as a champion. After experiencing self-doubt, Kohli overcame it to hit 48 and 75 runs in the Test match. In fact, he led India in scoring during the contest.
“I kept reminding myself that I am good enough and that I can do it,” the former captain of India stated. In that Test match, I ended up scoring 48 in the first innings and 75 in the second, despite the exceedingly difficult conditions. In that Test match, I scored the most runs for our team. That reinforced my view that we haven’t even scratched the surface of the power of visualisation and self-confidence. But when you truly put aside all of the side distractions and when you have confidence in yourself, that’s when you do something that is invisible to others on the outside. That taught me a valuable lesson.
