The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli has revealed that he went through depression during his forgettable outing in England in 2014 where he felt like the “loneliest guy in the world” after a string of failures with the bat. In a conversation with former England player Mark Nicholas on his “Not Just Cricket” podcast, Virat Kohli accepts that he went through a tough phase during the particularly difficult tour.
Recalling the experience, Kohli said, “Yes, I did. It’s not a great feeling to wake up knowing that you won’t be able to score runs and I think all batsmen have felt that at some stage that you are not in control of anything at all. You just don’t understand how to get over it. That was a phase when I literally couldn’t do anything to overturn things…I felt like I was the loneliest guy in the world.”
Kohli remembered feeling alone despite the fact that he was surrounded with a there were supportive people in his life. He said professional help was what he needed.
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Elaborating the same, Virat Kohli said, “Personally, for me, that was a revelation that you could feel that lonely even though you are a part of a big group. I won’t say I didn’t have people who I could speak to but not having a professional to speak to who could understand what I am going through completely, I think is a huge factor.”
The India captain, considered one of the best batsmen in modern-day cricket, believes mental health issues need to come to the limelight as they can destroy a person’s career. He is currently in Ahmedabad for the ongoing home Test series against England. The two teams have won a game each and will compete in the third Test from February 24.
Kohli has often been regarded as a tough, competitive, and enigmatic character on the field and he revealed that in real life too he is no different.
The Indian skipper asserted, “The disconnect for many years now is people don’t seem to understand, don’t seem to process a lot of the times is that I have never worked towards creating a perception for myself which is perfect from a worldly point of view. For me what matters is what I can do an individual and how much I can provide on the cricket field as an individual. I cannot fabricate things to look good in front of certain set of people. That’s just not who I am.”
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Another thing he hardly cares about is the expectations from him when he is on the field. “Expectation is honestly a burden when you start thinking about it too much.”
