Mumbai, August 27 - Team India's star batter Virat Kohli will be making his comeback in the match against Pakistan after taking a break. Virat has endured a bit of a rough patch of late and was rested for the tours of the West Indies and Zimbabwe.
Ahead of his return to cricket in the Asia Cup 2022, the former Indian captain spoke candidly about his recent struggles and how they took a toll on him mentally. Virat admitted that he was battling mental issues and was faking to be strong.
"For the first time in 10 years, I didn't touch my bat for a month", said Kohli while speaking to Star Sports. "When I sat down and thought about it I was like, 'wow, I haven't touched a bat for like 30 days'. I haven't ever done that in my life. I came to the realization that I was trying to fake my intensity a bit recently. I was convincing myself that no, you had the intensity. But your body is telling you to stop. Your mind is telling me to take a break and step back".
"I understand what Ravi Bhai (Ravi Shastri) has mentioned (about taking a break). He's mentioned about the workloads as well, the volume of cricket, and how I played 40 or 50% more in the last 10 years than everybody else. It's very easy to ignore all these things. I'm looked at as a guy who has been mentally very strong and I am. But everyone has a limit and you need to recognize that limit, otherwise, things can get unhealthy for you", he added.
Virat will be playing his 100th T20I when India will start its campaign in the Asia Cup against Pakistan on Sunday (August 28). He has been India's premier batter over the most part of his career but things were not going his way for the last couple of years and was struggling to convert his start into the big scores.
"I have always been a guy who follows his heart from day one. I never wanted or tried to be someone else, which in this recent phase I have been. I have tried to keep up with the demands and the expectations, not really felt my inner being completely, which this phase allowed me to do. I was experiencing that I'm not excited to train, I wasn't excited to practice, and that really disturbed me because this is not who I am, and I literally needed to step away from that environment".
The star India batter added that the month-long break helped him rejuvenate and rediscover his love for training.
"When you are involved in such an environment, you are unable to see anything. When you remove yourself from there, then you realize what was happening to you. And this has been an amazing break. I never had this long a break and the first thing I realise was that I woke up in the morning and was excited to go to the gym".
The 33-year-old expressed that he was kind of the person who would go to any level to make his team but that not happening in recent times.
"That was not happening naturally. I was having to push myself. I didn't know it... I had become this ideal kind of sportsperson to look up to. I get so grateful for the fact that so many people get inspired because of me, but you can't stop being a human being because of that. I understand why people love you and support you, it's because you were yourself always, and even in these moments, I'm not shy to admit that I was feeling mentally down and this is a very normal thing to feel", he said.
"I'm a human at the end of the day and that should be a thing or a space for people to say, 'If he can experience this, relax it's normal to feel this way'. It's not abnormal, talk about it and discuss it with people. No one will think you are weak".
"You will get help from people you never imagined, but we don't speak because we are hesitant. We don't want to be looked at as mentally weak. Trust me, faking to be strong is far worse than that. I'm not feeling any shame that I was feeling mentally weak", he concluded.
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