PV Sindhu won her first major trophy in over two years when she won the Japan Open last week. The last few years have been tough for her, having gone through a stress fracture and also a painful early exit at the Paris Olympics. She once cautiously asked Virat Kohli how he dealt with the interminable wait for an elusive century. The cricket star told her he needed to rediscover the joy of scoring runs. Venkata Datta Sai, Sindhu’s husband, listening in, had noted the import of those words.

A few months later during a consultation with Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala after snapping a toe ligament, Sindhu was put on a three-month complete rest. But India’s top shuttler kept asking the doctor how soon she could return to the court. The surgeon took Datta aside and told him, “Look, there’s no comeback for three weeks. She needs a break or she will burn out.”

Venakata Datta kept in mind Kohli’s words, and booked the next flight to Atlanta to shift his wife away from the constant refrains of why she wasn’t winning, and why she was even playing. “We had to rebuild her joy,” Datta said. “and Virat’s words kept ringing in my head. At Atlanta’s Exos Sports Performance facility, she trained with three excellent trainers Wayne, Tim and Rayan. My sister would drive her to the facility everyday for three weeks for rehab and strengthening. We rekindled the love surrounded by family where she wasn’t a star, just a regular person.”

The Conversation between Kohli and Sindhu

It was not a planned mentorship session or a public meeting. Accompanied by her husband, Venkata Datta Sai, Sindhu spent hours talking to the former India captain in Bengaluru. The details of that conversation will never be made public. PV Sindhu said, "What we spoke about will always stay between us. But I'll always be grateful that when I needed someone, he was there. He didn't say much, but every word stayed with Datta and me. Some conversations change the way you see things. That was one of them."

Kohli's advice wasn't about winning more titles or changing her technique. Instead, he urged her to stop chasing trophies and rediscover the joy that had first brought her to badminton. "The biggest thing I took away was the importance of finding your joy again," Sindhu admitted. Today, I know exactly why I wake up for those 5:30 a.m. sessions. And I can honestly say it isn't the trophies. It isn't the wins. It's something much deeper.”

Indian badminton superstar PV Sindhu beat Yamaguchi in straight games to win her first BWF Super 750 title. Ranked 12 in women’s singles coming into the tournament, the two-time Olympic medallist beat third-ranked, three-time world champion Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-17 to end an almost two-year title drought. She last won a BWF tour title at the Syed Modi International in 2024.