Virat Kohli conceded that he went through a distressing phase after stepping down from India captaincy but profusely thanked Rahul Dravid and Vikram Rathour for helping rediscover the joy of playing cricket. Kohli moved away from captaincy in 2022, and that year he tallied a mere 265 runs from six Tests at an average of 26.5 with just one fifty. Dravid, who took over the stewardship of the Indian team in November 2021 along with batting coach Rathour, then rekindled the hunger in Kohli, putting a kind arm around the struggling star batter. “Only when I left captaincy, I opened up and I shared a lot more with people like Rahul Bhai and Vikram Rathour. I had a great run in Test cricket in 2023 and whenever I meet them, I always thank them from the bottom of my heart. “They really took care of me in a way that made me feel like I wanted to play for them. I want to perform. I want to go out there and grind it out. They were so caring and nurturing. They made me realise what I have done so far,” Kohli said during the third edition of the RCB Innovation Lab's Indian Sports Summit.
The former Indian skipper said Dravid and Rathour understood the demons inside the mind of Kohli, and found a way to push him past them.
“Rahul Bhai has done that way better than a lot of people in Test cricket. Vikram has been around for so many years. So, they understood what I was feeling and they could relate to it. They really took care of me mentally.
“So that really put me in a space where I could enjoy my cricket again. But yeah, when I was in the thick of things, I never really felt like I wanted someone to ask me. I was pretty okay with managing everything,” he added.
Under Dravid's tutelage, Kohli had a wonderful 2023, scoring 671 runs from eight Tests at an average of 56 with two hundreds and as many fifties.
But Kohli admitted that captaincy had consumed his inner-self without him realising it.
“I ended up being in a place where I became the focal point of our batting unit and leadership. I didn't realise how much load both those things will present in my daily life because I was so driven and motivated to make sure that Indian cricket stays on top.
“And that's precisely why by the time I left captaincy, I was completely spent. I was completely consumed by it. It was gruesome. It was difficult to manage expectations.” Kohli said such burden did not matter to him in his prime, but it began to weigh him down once he went past his peak as a cricketer.
“The key there during my prime was to make sure the team was secure. You know, that insecurity doesn't enter the change room. For that, I have to give massive credit to the management — Ravi Shastri and the team.
"But the form doesn't quite stay for long, then, yeah, both those responsibilities start weighing on you. So, it was tough,” he said.
from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/8nyKPuL
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