"I knew that if I don't perform, there was no chance that I'm going to play" - Virat Kohli on the turning point of his Test career
Team India batter Virat Kohli picked the third Test in Perth during India's tour of Australia in 2011-12 as the turning point of his red-ball career.
Kohli suffered back-to-back failures in the first two Tests of the four-match series and was under pressure ahead of the third fixture. Speaking on the RCB Podcast, the right-handed batter revealed that he knew that he would be dropped from the team had he failed to make an impact in the Perth Test.
He also highlighted that the pitch was very challenging to bat on, given that there was a lot of pace and bounce on offer for the fast bowlers.
"I would say 2012. We were in Australia, and I remember, those two Test matches had gone horribly wrong," he said. "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.
"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."
Virat Kohli further added that the team's morale was down after losing the first two Tests. The Delhi-born cricketer highlighted that seeing the senior players under so much pressure, he thought that he didn't have a chance of doing well in the match.
"When you lose two Test matches very badly in Australia, the whole environment becomes very tense and everyone is obviously feeling a lot of pressure," he added.
"When it's your first tour to Australia and you see everyone kind of feeling that pressure, as a youngster, you feel like, 'I've got no chance here', because the whole team is feeling like that, and I'm the most inexperienced, how the hell am I going to turn this around? In those adverse situations, I got a resilience that maybe I can be different if I think differently."
Kohli managed to score just 11 runs in the first innings of the opening Test against Australia and was dismissed for a golden duck in the second essay. The subsequent fixture also proved to be a forgettable one for him as he finished with scores of 23 and nine.
"Kept telling myself, 'I am good enough'" - Virat Kohli on how he motivated himself ahead of the Perth Test
Virat Kohli further stated that ahead of the Perth Test, he kept reminding himself that he had eight ODI centuries to his name. He said that he kept telling himself that he was good enough to play at the highest level to motivate himself.
Recalling his batting exploits in Perth, Kohli said:
"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'.
"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."
Virat considers his 44 & 75 innings at WACA (Perth) {The toughest pitch to bat on in test matches till today} in the 2012 Border gavaskar trophy as one of his best test knock.
Stat : Kohli was the Highest run getter in that test match with 119 runs in both innings.
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Kohli ultimately emerged as India's highest run-scorer in the Perth Test. He scored 48 runs in the first innings and followed it up with a gutsy 75-run knock in the second innings.
While Australia beat India by an innings and 37 runs to wrap up the series, Kohli received praise from all quarters for his impressive batting performances on a challenging track.
He continued his form in the fourth and final Test of the series by registering his maiden Test century, mustering 116 runs in the first innings at the Adelaide Oval.