Hardik Pandya reveals Virat Kohli’s success mantra

By nature, the athletes that we adore, the sportspersons we admire plying their trade, are the ones who are motivated enough to be at the top of their game. What we see in front of us is the culmination of years of hard work behind the scenes, the tip of the iceberg. Virat Kohli’s story is no different, and his ability to push hard every day to be the best at what he does is well known. Hardik Pandya, the all-rounder recited one such story on how Virat taught him an invaluable lesson on what makes him the best in the world. 

Hardik Pandya is one of the most gifted cricketers in the current Indian team, and his hitting ability is unmatched. Hardik recounted an incident when he asked Virat for his success mantra. "Just two days ago, I was speaking to Virat. I asked him 'what is the reason for your success?" Pandya told Sports Tak. “He replied back ‘your attitude is fine, everything is fine, just you have to keep one thing in mind to reach and have that level of consistency. You should have great hunger to be No. 1 in the right way. Not by pushing anyone down. By your own hard work and on your own merit, to become No. 1 should be your goal’.”

Ups and downs are a part of life, but it is how we react to failures is what matters. Virat Kohli seems to have echoed this belief to Hardik Pandya. “Now I know how and why Virat is so consistent. Players like Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni - they don’t like being at no. 2. At the same time, if these players come 2nd, they don’t mind that either. They want to be no. 1, but their greatness is such that if they come at 2nd place, they have no problems. They will re-start the process of hard work to be the no.1,” Pandya elaborated. 

Competition might get the best out of most players, but for trailblazers of their respective fields, players like Virat Kohli, M.S. Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, they compete constantly with themselves. “You have to strive to be the best. If you’re a bowler, you have to be the best. If you’re training, then you have to be eager to train. In life, you need to compete with yourself,” he concluded.

[TOI inputs]