Virat Kohli may be the undisputed king of the No. 3 batting position today, but his journey to owning that spot wasn’t always straightforward. In a candid conversation on the RCB Bold Diaries podcast, the modern-day maestro opened up about his early insecurities and the pivotal role that MS Dhoni and Gary Kirsten played in shaping his career.
Fresh off leading India to an Under-19 World Cup title, Kohli admitted that he wasn’t brimming with confidence when he first entered the senior setup. “I was very realistic about my abilities. I had watched a lot of others play and didn’t feel that my game was anywhere close to theirs. The only thing I had was determination,” Virat Kohli said.
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That fierce determination, though, proved to be his biggest weapon. It was this relentless drive, paired with his ability to stay in the fight, that caught the attention of then-India captain MS Dhoni and head coach Gary Kirsten. They saw beyond the technical flaws and chose to back Kohli at No. 3 — a decision that would change Indian cricket forever.
Virat Kohli said – “MS Dhoni and Gary Kristen made it very clear to me that we are backing you to play at No.3, this is what you can do for the team, represent on the field, the energy & that is of biggest value for us, I had this thing. I was always staying in for fight, I am… pic.twitter.com/mU6nZbxTme
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“Gary and MS made it very clear to me that they were backing me to bat at number three,” Virat Kohli recalled. “They told me to just play the way I knew, to keep my energy high and my engagement constant. They valued my attitude more than anything.”
Kohli revealed that he wasn’t initially viewed as a match-winner. Instead, he was seen as someone who would fight tooth and nail — the kind of cricketer who wouldn’t back down no matter the situation. That mindset became the bedrock of his legendary career.
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Today, it’s almost unthinkable to imagine Kohli as a hesitant young man. With years of remarkable consistency, passion, and countless match-winning knocks, he’s become the embodiment of Indian cricket’s modern era — fierce, focused, and forever determined. And at the root of that transformation were two mentors who simply believed in him.
