Former India captain Virat Kohli has been playing cricket for more than a decade now. The 33-year-old has amassed over 20,000 international runs across formats and is counted among one of the best batters to have played the game. However, Kohli has been struggling with his form lately as he has failed to score a century since November 2019. Even half-centuries have become a rare affair now.
But with the batter included in the Asia Cup squad, fans are expecting him to come good and end the drought. With Kohli struggling to perform, there were talks of deteriorated mental health due to the non-stop cricket the 33-year-old played. Former India coach Ravi Shastri pointed out during the IPL 2022 that Kohli may be overcooked and needs a long break.
With so much happening around Kohli in the past few months where he was sacked from ODI captaincy and then had to step down from Test captaincy, people also speculated that the star cricketer was not feeling the best. Now, as Kohli has revealed in an interview, he indeed felt alone. The 33-year-old has said that he felt alone even in a room full of people who love him.
“For an athlete, the sport can bring the best out of you as a player but at the same time, the amount of pressure that you are constantly under can affect your mental health negatively. It is definitely a serious issue and as much as we try to be strong at all times, it can tear you apart,” said Kohli while answering a query on how to maintain mental health.
“I personally have experienced times when even in a room full of people who support and love me, I felt alone, and I am sure that this is a feeling that a lot of people can relate to,” he added.
The star cricketer then advised young athletes to connect with their inner selves. “So, take out time for yourself and reconnect with your core self. If you lose that connection, it wouldn’t take very long for other things to crumble around you. You need to learn how to compartmentalize your time so that there’s balance,” advised Kohli.