I was a bit nervous, felt a bit jittery, but things were okay: Virat Kohli on his first bat out in the nets

The realities of life do not care for who you are. Even the GOAT could not escape the need to confine himself indoor for months on end. However, with the mouthwatering prospect of cricket on the horizon, the dream 11 IPL within touching distance, players are getting back into the swing of things. In an exclusive interview, Virat Kohli opened up on his life under lockdown and his feeling on the first nets session.

Speaking of the upcoming IPL, and putting its importance into the context of the pandemic-stricken world we live in today, Virat says, “A couple of months ago you could not even imagine that you’d have IPL firstly, and then, you know things started opening up and things started getting together, and we saw other tournaments take place. So got a bit of confidence from that.”

The butterflies in the stomach simply cannot be ignored. Not even if you are one of the best at what you do in the world. “Now, when we had our practice session yesterday is the time I realized how long it has been. When I was heading to the practice session, I felt nervous, I felt a bit jittery, but things were okay,” Virat says.

Playing all three formats for the country, cricket grips Virat all year around. Speaking about the feeling of not having to pick up the bat for so long, Virat says, “Honestly I didn’t miss the game as much as I thought I might. Maybe because I had been going on for 9-10 years before that, and this was the only break I was going to get. It was a revelation for me as well. It was surprising that my focus was not solely on how I’m missing the game all the time and just carrying on with life, and doing other things, and understanding this is just a part of life.”

For a couple who are both outstanding individuals in their respective fields, and with jobs that require constant traveling, it is understandable that they must hardly get enough time to spend with each other. “The best thing was Anushka and myself were at home. We never got so much time to spend together. Since we started seeing each other, to be honest, this was the longest we got to spend together and just being home, just being in your own home with the one you love, you couldn’t ask for anything better, and we just made the most of the whole time, created a bit of a routine for ourselves,” says Virat in a tone almost as if shedding his superhuman skin.

So, how have they best put to use all the time they got to spend? Virat sounds like a philosopher in his response, “We didn’t force ourselves to, we didn’t feel pressurized to say, ‘Oh, this one’s learning this, and this one’s picking up that hobby, so we should also do something, learn something’. It is what it is. You are going through a phase in life where life has stopped, it has become slow. So, we stopped seeking things that keep us engaged, that keep us working towards something. We just accepted it, and we were at peace being at home together, and it was just a lovely time, just a normal time for both of us. Yes, it was tough initially, but then we got used to it. Eventually, we get used to things.”