‘Felt like the worst player around’: Virat Kohli on mindset during tough phase

The player also added that his behavior also became quite sensitive during that phase which made him “cranky” and “snappy” with his family and friends.

“In my case, in denial, frustration was creeping in. I was very cranky and very snappy in my space. It was not fair on (wife) Anushka (Sharma), my close ones, it’s not fair on the people who support you. So I had to take responsibility and kind of put things in perspective,” Kohli told teammate Suryakumar Yadav in an interview for bcci. tv.

Kohli said things started changing when he started accepting his vulnerabilities and bad performance on the ground. He even added that he felt like the worst player around.

“I was far off from my cricket. My attachments, my desire, had totally taken over. That’s when I realized that I can’t be away from who I am. I have to be true to myself. Even when I am vulnerable, I am not playing well, I am the worst player around, and I have to accept it. I can’t be in denial,” Kohli said.

The star batsman also had a piece of advice for emerging star Suryakumar Yadav of how when you do well, people start expecting from you and this has a lot of downsides which the player realizes when they are out of form.

“Sometimes what happens, you (Surya) will also experience it as you play more and more now, people look at you differently. When Surya goes out to play, people will say that Surya will do it. To keep up with it is an intense process,” he told his junior colleague.

“When your cricket is going well, all these things flow well but whenever there is a slight dip, in my case, frustration started creeping in because I wanted to play in a certain way but my cricket was not allowing me to play like before,” Kohli added.

(With inputs from PTI)