I had a feeling I will have to go back to First-Class cricket if I don’t perform: Virat Kohli on battling self-doubt early on in his career

A decade and a half ago, in 2008, when the Indian U-19 team was struggling on the cold and dank surfaces of Malaysia, there was a man who led from the very front and needless to say, it was none other than Virat Kohli. That was the first time ‘King Kohli’, as he is referred to now, tasted success on a global scale. Fast forward a couple of days, he was picked by RCB for the IPL and in a land treaded by giants of the sport, Kohli was a young and famished lad all set to take the cricketing world by the scruff of its neck.

As years passed by, Kohli started looking a lot more effusive and the shots that once looked like a dream for a youngster were soon turning out into a reality. The glory hits were simply outrageous and the picture-perfect cricketing strokes were a sight to behold.

However, every individual hits a dark stride and especially when you arrive on the inimical shores of Australia, the hosts’ bowling unit doesn’t hesitate to lend a sense of unwelcome, peppering batsmen with a fearsome assortment of bowling weaponry. In 2012, Virat Kohli was not really having the best of times and when the Perth Test came about, he was on the cusp of being shown the door after all the promise that was pinned on him. Then again, the true mark of a champion is not accepting that rare fall but keeping on going, no matter how and at what cost. 

Talking on the first episode of RCB Podcast season 2, Virat Kohli recalled how he turned the tide around in his favour from a juncture that almost spelt doom in his international career.

Virat said, “When we arrived in Perth, at the first glimpse of the surface we knew that it was a very tough pitch to bat on as there was ample pace and bounce on offer. Not only were these two the solitary nightmares but to add to a batter’s woe, there was ample grass as well. And I knew that if I do not perform in this Test match, then there was no chance that I was playing the fourth. Probably, I will have to go back to first-class cricket and climb my way back to the top again.”

He continued, “So I clearly remember, when I left Sydney, there was a lot of vitriol. Especially when you lose the first two Test matches of a series in Australia, the whole environment becomes very tense. Everyone is obviously feeling a lot of pressure and when it is your first tour to Australia and you see everyone feeling a lot of pressure around, you think that I have got no chance here.”

Virat further added, “It is because the whole team is feeling like that and I am the most inexperienced. How am I going to turn this around? I remember that in that adverse situation, I kind of got a resilience. I told myself, ‘Hold on. Maybe I can be different if I think different. So I went into my own space. Spent a lot of time by just walking around by myself. I sat in a coffee shop too. I remember, every time I stepped into the bus or was in a practice session, I always had my music on. I kept telling myself that I have got 8 ODI hundreds by the time. I told myself that I am good enough to play at this level. I told myself if I can get 8 hundreds in ODI cricket, I can manage this as well.”

Then came the note of a reckoning conclusion where Virat said, “I kept telling myself that I am good enough and I can do it. I ended up scoring 48 in the first innings and 75 in the second in that Test match, braving conditions that were extremely tough. I was the highest run-getter in that Test match for us. That made me believe that the power of visualization and belief in yourself is so huge, we never fully tap into the potential like that. But when you really put out all the distractions in the side, when you believe in yourself, is when you do something that is not perceivable for people on the outside. That was a big lesson for me.”

With a word of advice for any incoming youngster, Virat added, “My first chat with them is about the same thing. It doesn’t matter whether I have played 100 Test matches or you have played 2. It’s on the day, if your mindset is better, you will perform better than me. The game gives you no guarantees. So never feel like you are not good enough because you haven’t played so many games.”