“Wasn’t Excited To Train”: Virat Kohli On Why He Needed A Break From Cricket | Cricket News

After India’s tour of England, star batter Virat Kohli, going through an unprecedented slump in form, took a month-long break before the Asia Cup, which began on Saturday. Kohli is set to return to the field when India play their first match of the tournament on Sunday, which is against arch-rivals Pakistan. Speaking before the Asia Cup, Kohli opened up about his break and why it was important for him. The former India captain said that his recent “phase” was the first time he was not being himself, something that he says he has never done before.

“I have always been a guy who follows his heart from day 1. I was a guy who was looked at as brash and I wasn’t mature enough but I was true to myself. I never wanted and tried to be someone else which in this recent phase I have been, I have tried to keep up to the demands and the expectations, not really felt my inner being completely which this phase allowed me to do,” Kohli said in an exclusive chat with Star Sports.

“I was experiencing that I’m not excited to train, I wasn’t excited to practice and that really disturbed me because this is not who I am and I literally need to step away from that environment,” he went on to say.

“When you are part of an environment, you don’t see these things. But it’s when you step away that you notice that this is happening,” he explained.

“Okay, this is what I need to do and this has been an amazing break. I never had this long break and the first thing I realised that I woke up in the morning and was excited to go to gym, which isn’t a thing like ‘oh I have to keep up with this’ so that was my first mark,” he said about his sabbatical.

“This is my normal practice and this is what everyone should realise and give themselves space to come to this conclusion and not keep running like headless chickens and all over the place,” he went on to say.

“You can tend to get carried away with so much demands now a days such schedules get piled up again and again,” Kohli said.

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He went on to say that the burden of the hectic schedule has resulted in players either retiring from one format or taking a reduced role.

“You have seen the results of what happened to Ben Stokes and Trent boult, Moeen retiring from test cricket. These aren’t abnormalities but happen and people who are in touch with them know what’s happening in their lives,” he said.