Former Indian skipper, Virat Kohli acknowledged that he was feeling “mentally down”, which eventually resulted in him deciding to take a break from cricket following the 2022 tour of England in July. He only managed to score just 76 runs across one Test match, two T20Is, and two ODIs against England. After the tour concluded, Kohli took a break and went on to miss the following two tours – West Indies and Zimbabwe.

As India’s modern batting great, Virat Kohli will return to competitive cricket at the Asia Cup 2022, he will be aiming to make a strong comeback when India will be locking horns with Pakistan in their opening match of the continental tournament on August 28. Although Kohli is known for his aggression and intensity, which often rubs on his teammates, he revealed the mental health that forced him to take a break from the sport recently. 

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Describing the same during a chat with Star Sports, Virat Kohli said, “For the first time in 10 years, I didn’t touch my bat for a month. 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 was telling you to stop. The mind was telling me to take a break and step back.”

He further added, ” I’m looked at as a guy who is 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. This period taught me a lot of things that I wasn’t allowed to come to the surface. When they eventually came up, I embraced it.”

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Virat Kohli explained, “I’m not shy to admit that I was feeling mentally down. This is a very normal thing to feel, 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 admitting to be weak.”

Virat Kohli’s return to competitive cricket will coincide with his 100th T20I match. He has scored 3308 runs, including an unbeaten 94, at a strike rate of 137.66 in the shortest format of the game.