India’s talismanic batter Virat Kohli has long been one of the most consistent and reliable figures in wold cricket. However, his struggles during India’s tour of Australia recently caused ‘the most intense kind of disappointment’,. Despite being one of the best batsmen in world cricket, Kohli endured a particularly challenging time with the bat, grappling with a frustrating series of dismissals, particularly to deliveries outside the off-stump.
“If you ask me the intensity of how disappointed I've been, the most recent Australia tour would be the one that's most fresh. So it might feel the most intense to me. For a long time, the tour of England in 2014 bothered me the most. But I can't look at it that way. I might not have an Australia tour again in four years. I don't know,” Kohli said at the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit in Bengaluru.
"You have to make peace with whatever's happened in your life. In 2014, I still had the chance to go in 2018 and do what I did. It might not have been the case. It might have been another blunder. But it didn't turn out that way."
Barring the sizzling century in the first Test in Perth, Kohli was only able to muster 85 runs from the remaining four Test matches, battling a difficult period.
“Because I got a good score in the first Test. I thought, right, 'let's go.' There's going to be another big series for me. It doesn't turn out that way," Kohli said.
“For me, it's just about the acceptance of, 'okay fine, this is what happened. I'm going to be honest with myself. Where do I want to go? What are my energy levels like?’. I'm not sitting here in 48 hours or 72 hours-time to make a decision like 'let me go.' Spend time with family. Just sit down. Let everything calm down. And see how I feel in a few days," he said.