5 headline-grabbing statements by Virat Kohli in his recent RCB podcast
Star Indian batter Virat Kohli recently appeared on a podcast for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The podcast-interview, hosted by comedian Danish Sait, saw an unfiltered version of the former Indian and RCB skipper.
Kohli is inarguably one of the most influential sportspeople from India. He has shattered countless records with the bat for his nation and for his IPL franchise and is surely one of the most talked about cricketers of his generation.
Ahead of IPL 2023, RCB released a podcast featuring Kohli, where he discussed various incidents of his career, including conversations about his captaincy and his lean patch against England in 2014.
You can check out the podcast here:
Since it was uploaded, the video on the YouTube platform has garnered a total of 660k views and 43k likes.
Let's take a look at five headline-grabbing statements made by Virat Kohli in his recent podcast for RCB.
#1 "I was considered as a failed captain" - Kohli on failing to win any ICC trophy as the Indian skipper
Perhaps the most underwhelming aspect of Virat Kohli's tenure as the Indian skipper was that the Men in Blue failed to win any ICC trophies under him.
Virat Kohli opens up about Team India and ICC tournament failures as a captain. 🧢🇮🇳
#CricketTwitter #india #indvsaus #viratkohli https://t.co/7JCDzGkTcF
Upon asking if the fact that he didn't win an ICC Trophy as the Indian skipper ever pinched him, Kohli said that he was considered a "failed" captain despite reaching the semi-finals or finals of almost every ICC tournament. He said:
"Look, you play to win tournaments. I captained in Champions Trophy in 2017 (reached the final), the 2019 World Cup (reached the semifinal), I captained in World Test Championship (reached the final), and T20 World Cup in 2021 (failed to qualify for the knockouts). After three ICC tournaments, I was considered as a failed captain."
He quit the captaincy in all three formats last year.
#2 "I went there to prove that I can play in these conditions and not go there to make my team win, that wasn’t my focal point," - Reveals reasons behind his horror show in England in 2014
Despite taking world cricket by storm, Virat Kohli endured a forgettable tour of England back in 2014.
On the recent podcast, he divulged that his prime focus during the 2014 tour of England was to prove himself and not think of helping the team win. Shedding light on how badly that Test series went for him, Kohli said:
"When we went to England in 2014, I thought I needed to prove myself here but I was wrong in the first place. Because I went there to prove something that I can play in these conditions and not go there to kind of make my team win, that wasn’t my focal point."
He continued: "My main aim was to I need to prove that I can play here. I was always under pressure. And once things went back, I was not able to find a way to get out of that. It was a very bad phase."
The Delhi lad only mustered 134 runs at an average of 13.4 across 10 innings, with his individual highest score being 39 in that particular Test series.
#3 "The only person who genuinely reached out to me was MS Dhoni"
MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have been the two pillars of Indian cricket. The two superstars, who played alongside each other for a decade, have always shared a great camaraderie on and off the field.
On the podcast, Kohli revealed that during a difficult period with the Indian national team, he received words of encouragement from Dhoni. According to Kohli, Dhoni was one of the few people who checked in on him twice to inquire about his well-being.
"The only person who, apart from my childhood coach and family…genuinely reached out to me has been MS Dhoni. He reached out to me and you can rarely get in touch with him. If I call him on any random day, 99 percent he will not pick up (the phone), because he just does not look at the phone."
"So, for him to reach out to me…twice it has happened now and one of the things that he’d mentioned in the message while reaching out to me was that: ‘when you are expected to be strong and looked at as a strong individual people forget to ask how are you doing?"
In the past couple of years, Kohli's struggles as captain and with his batting form have taken a toll on him.
#4 Virat Kohli choses the 2012 Test tour of Australia as his career-changing moment
When asked to pick a career-changing moment from his professional career, Virat Kohli chose the 2012 Test tour of Australia, where his incredible performances in tough conditions Down Under boosted his confidence.
Walking down memory lane and recalling India's 2011-12 tour of Australia, Kohli said:
"I would say 2012 (as his career-changing moment). We were in Australia, and I remember, those two Test matches (first two Tests) had gone horribly wrong. We were playing in Perth, the third Test match, and it was a very tough pitch with a lot of pace and bounce and a lot of grass on the pitch."
Virat Kohli is grateful for the trophies he has won 🏆🔥
#CricketTwitter #indvsaus #india #viratkohli https://t.co/jk97e14IE5
He continued:
"I knew that if I don’t perform, there’s no chance that I’m going to play the fourth and probably have to go back to first-class cricket and find my way up again.
"Every time I stepped onto the bus or went to a practice session, I always had music on. I kept telling myself that I am good enough to play at this level, and if I can get eight hundreds in ODI cricket, I can manage this as well. I kept telling myself, ‘I am good enough’."
He added:
“I ended up scoring 48 in the first innings and 75 in the second in conditions that were very tough, and I was the highest run-getter for us in the Test match. That made me believe that the power of visualization and believing in yourself, it’s so huge that we never tap into the potential of that fully," he added.
Kohli was already an integral part of India’s ODI set-up during that time and was also part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad, but there were still some doubts over his credentials in red-ball cricket.
However, he silenced his critics by finishing as India’s highest run-getter in the series with 300 runs across four matches.
#5 "35,000 people at the stadium and they all started booing the moment I entered the field" - Startling revelations on his 2018 England tour
Kohli is known for being a crowd puller no matter where or when he plays. Especially when Kohli comes out to bat, fans inside the stadium get on the edge of their seats to cheer for the modern-day batting great.
However, as per Kohli, an unusual incident occurred with him in England in 2018 at Edgbaston when he was booed by a massive crowd of 35,000 spectators.
After his horrific 2014 Test tour of England, it was time for redemption for Kohli when he captained India for a five-match Test series on English soil four years later.
On this Day in 2018, India beat England by 203 runs in Nottingham. Captain Virat Kohli won the player of the match for scoring 200 runs including 103 runs in second innings - Hardik took 5 wickets in first innings & Bumrah took 5 wickets in second innings. https://t.co/2zVFOe53U2
Interestingly, it didn't take him long to put his demons to bed as he made a scintillating century in the first innings of the first Test at Edgbaston.
Mentioning what went through his mind during the 2018 series, Kohli said:
"My heart was pumping because all I could think of was the flashes of 2014. I walked in and there were about 35,000 people at the stadium and they all started booing the moment I entered the field. My heart started beating faster. They have this amazing ability to create an environment where you feel like I have got no chance here."
He continued:
"I remember James Anderson was the guy running with the ball, and I was like, what are the odds here I am facing the first ball from him again after four years. In my mind, I was like ‘please just play the first ball and he bowled it at the fourth stump and I left that ball.
"I became calm after that first ball and then I got dropped at 22. I could have got out on 22 in that innings but I got 149 and I didn’t look back from there, so that’s when you realized that you just can’t sit there and crib about things that didn’t go right. There are a lot of things that went right. So much weight was lifted from my shoulder."
Kohli was the top run-scorer on the 2018 England tour, despite India losing the Test series. He scored 593 runs at an average of 59.30, including two centuries and three fifties.