Everyone has a limit, and you need to recognize that limit: Virat Kohli

In a messianic unraveling, Virat Kohli lifted the lid on his silence in an extremely intimate interview where the star had many things to talk about. However, he opened up on one of the most important factors for an athlete, his or her mental health. A lot has been going on around Kohli and the former Indian captain somehow found himself waiting at the end of nothingness with bare minimum contributions.

It isn’t easy to take a stance when you are always in the limelight, especially a stance of mental solidity where your own existence in an arcade is continuously questioned. Following a 42-day hiatus from cricket, Virat opened up on what are the things that haven’t been in place and what exactly have been the bugbears for the big man.

Talking on Star Sports about his break from cricket, Virat said, “This is the first time in ten years that I have not touched the bat in a whole month. When I sat down and thought about it, I was like I haven't actually touched a bat for 30 days, which I haven't done ever in my life. That's when I came to the realization that I was kind of trying to fake my intensity a bit recently.”

He further added, “'No, I can do it… being competitive and convincing yourself that you have intensity but your body is telling you to stop. Mind is telling you to just take a break and step back... You can neglect it by saying you are fit, you are working hard on yourself, and you will be fine because you are fit mentally.”

There was a beautiful analogy that Kohli made where he talked about how he is one of the mentally strongest athletes in the nation and yet even superheroes have boundaries, have limits to where they can push themselves. Highlighting his boundaries and his vulnerability, Virat Kohli said, “I have been 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. So, this period actually taught me a lot of things that I was not allowed to come to the surface.”

"When they did, I embraced it. Yaar, there is much more to life than just your profession. And when the environment around you is such that everyone looks at you through your professional identity, somewhere you start losing perspective as a human being,” explained Kohli.