The advice from Sachin Tendulkar that changed Virat Kohli’s mindset
After opening up about his battle with depression during India’s tour of England in 2014, Virat Kohli has now revealed how Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar helped him tide over the tough times.
The Indian skipper made the comments in a conversation with renowned commentator Mark Nicholas on the latter’s podcast ‘Not Just Cricket’. Virat Kohli said he had a chat with Tendulkar on how to deal with negative thoughts.
On the advice that Tendulkar gave him, the Indian skipper said:
"The thing that he (Sachin Tendulkar) told me was, in cricket what he experienced was if you are going through a strong negative feeling and if that is coming into your system regularly, it is best to let it pass. If you start fighting that feeling, it grows stronger. So, that is the advice I took on board and my mindset really opened up from then on.”
Virat Kohli is currently leading the Indian team in the Test series against England at home. The series is tied 1-1. The Indian team is presently in Ahmedabad, preparing for the pink-ball Test, which will begin on February 24. The match will be played at the rebuilt Motera Stadium, which is the biggest cricket stadium in the world.
When Virat Kohli felt like the loneliest guy in the world
In the same podcast with Nicholas, Virat Kohli had earlier admitted he suffered from depression during India’s tour of England in 2014.
The 32-year-old had a torrid tour of England, managing a meagre 134 runs in 10 innings. Reflecting on the hard times, Virat Kohli said:
"I did (feel depressed). It's not a great feeling when wake up knowing that you won't be able to score any runs and I think all batsmen have felt that at some stage or the other that you are not in control of anything at all. And you just don't understand how to get over it.
I think when you look back at a very difficult phase, you realise that you had to go through that phase fully to be able to understand what is wrong and rectify and move forward and open yourself up for change. That was a phase where I literally couldn't do anything to overturn what I was going through. I felt like I was the loneliest guy in the world,” the Indian captain concluded.
Virat Kohli fought back commendably from the England disaster and is now acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era.