Page 8 - Virat Kohli

Was faking intensity, says 'mentally down' Kohli on not having touched bat

The prolonged lean patch did take a toll on Virat Kohli's "mental health" as the former India captain admitted to not having touched the bat during the month-long break prior to Asia Cup. Kohli has been out without an international hundred for nearly three years but his poor run of form did affect him as he revealed that at times he was "faking intensity" in trying to show that he is an epitome of mental strength. "I am not shy to admit that I was feeling mentally down," the former India skipper told "Star Sports" in an episode of "Virat: Heart to Heart". Following the tour, Kohli took a break, skipping two white-ball series in the West Indies and Zimbabwe. "For the first time in 10 years, I didn't touch my bat for a month. I came to realisation that I was trying to fake my intensity a bit recently," Kohli said. "I was convincing myself that no, you had the intensity. But your body was telling you to stop. The mind was telling me to take a break and step back." Mental health issu

KL Rahul comes in support of Kohli, talks of on his own injury comeback

Ahead of the beginning of their Asia Cup 2022 campaign, India vice-captain KL Rahul on Friday came out in support of premier batter Virat Kohli

World class player like Virat isn't affected by what people say: Rahul

Just like skipper Rohit Sharma has stoutly defended all questions on Virat Kohli's prolonged bad patch, his deputy KL Rahul followed suit stating the obvious template answer, that it's all "noise on the outside". From being one of India's greatest batters of all time, Kohli's slump in form has given rise to a debate if his presence in the playing XI in T20Is is affecting the balance of the side. "We don't really give much importance to such comments. It doesn't really affect a player, especially a world-class player like Virat will not be affected by what people are saying (on the outside)," Rahul said, ditto of what Kohli used to say when something specifically critical used to be asked and current skipper Rohit does the same when questioned on his predecessor. "He has had a little break and he is working on his game," he said. While Kohli hasn't scored an international hundred for nearly three years now, Rahul doesn't find anything wrong in his batting but feels may be the ...

Kohli needs to score runs not only for India but for himself: Ganguly

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Friday said struggling batting maestro Virat Kohli needs to score runs not only for India but "for himself" too. In the Asia Cup starting here on Saturday, Kohli will resume the quest to score his first international hundred since 2019, having failed in all his previous attempts. "He needs to score runs not only for India but for himself. Hopefully it will be a good season for him. We all are confident that he'll come back," Ganguly said during an interaction. Kohli's last international century came during the pink ball Test against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in 2019. "I'm sure like all of us are waiting for him to get that hundred, he's working for it as well," Ganguly said. "The chances of getting a hundred in a T20 is less because of the time. But, hopefully, this will be a big season for Kohli." The 33-year-old former India captain, who was last seen in action in England in June-July, is back after a one-month break that saw him skip two .

Asia Cup 2022: Twitter delighted as Shaheen Afridi meets Kohli and Chahal

Asia Cup 2022: In his interaction with Kohli, Afridi said, "Aapke liye dua kar rhe hain kli aapki orm wapas aa jaye ( I have been praying that you get your form back soon)."

India vs Pakistan in the Asia Cup in UAE: A reminder of an era gone by

The deserts of the UAE were witness to the cricketing rivalry between India and Pakistan as they battled it out against each other in Sharjah through the 1980s and 90s

Asia Cup 2022: Groups, schedule, venue, team list and full squad

Asia Cup 2022 will be played in Dubai and Sharjah from August 27 to September 11. Read this detailed article to know about the venues, groups, and full squad and schedule

Kohli's heartfelt message to Dhoni as he prepares against Pakistan

The '7' and '18' in the tweet signify the jersey numbers of Dhoni and Kohli respectively

ICC ODI Rankings: Top 10 teams, batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders rankings

Will the Indian Cricket team get back to the top? The latest ICC ODI rankings had been disappointing for Indian all-rounders. Read this article to know who are the top ten performers in ODI cricket

Wouldn't have come this far without ability to counter situations: Kohli

He doesn't find any particular pattern to his prolonged slump in form unlike 2014, but then to succeed in international cricket for as long as Virat Kohli has, it couldn't have happened without his ability to counter adversities. The former India skipper has gone without an international hundred across formats for nearly three years now but he feels that there isn't much scope for course correction. The reason being that he isn't having any particular technical problem like one he had during England tour of 2014 when he was poking at deliveries on off-stum,p channel. "I know where my game stands and you cannot run this far in your international career without having the ability to counter situations and counter conditions and counter different kinds of bowling. So, this for me, is an easier phase to process, but I don't want to put this phase behind me," Kohli said on Star Sports show 'Game Plan'. He then spoke how a pattern of dismissals was detected on that tour and then after ..

Don't come across much outside of cricket: Stokes on equation with Kohli

"You're the most competitive bloke I've ever played against. Respect," read Kohli's comment on Stokes' ODI retirement

Kohli has all tools to come out of batting slump, says Mahela Jayawardene

Star India batter Virat Kohli is a quality player and has all the tools needed to come out of his prolonged dip in form, said former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene.

Virat Kohli, K L Rahul return; Bumrah out of Asia Cup 2022 due to injury

"Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection owing to injuries. They are currently undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru," said the BCCI in a statement.

Iyer, Dhawan move up while Rohit, Kohli drop in ICC Men's ODI Rankings

Senior India batter Shikhar Dhawan on Wednesday moved up a place to joint 13th spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings on the back of his match-winning knock against the West Indies in the first match

Kohli lauds Team India's brilliant chase post series win against England

Former India skipper Virat Kohli lauded the team's efforts following Rishabh Pant's masterclass and Hardik Pandya's all-round show which powered the tourists to a 2-1 series win

ENG vs IND 3rd ODI Highlights: Pant-Pandya special wins series for India

England vs India 3rd ODI Highlights: Thanks to a brilliant maiden ODI ton by Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya's all-round show of four wickets and 71 runs, India beat England by 5 wickets to win series

Babar surpasses Virat, becomes fastest Asian batter to reach 10k int'l runs

Pakistani batter Babar Azam surpassed Indian counterpart Virat Kohli to become the fastest Asian batter in terms of innings to surpass a total of 10,000 runs across all international cricket formats.

Kohli might have been dropped or rested for West Indies T20Is: Kapil Dev

India's first World Cup winning-captain added, "Play Ranji Trophy or score runs anywhere. His confidence needs to be back. This is the difference between a great and a good player.

Why Rohit Sharma is backing Virat Kohli amid growing talk over lean patch?

The lean patch of talismanic India batter Virat Kohli has been the subject of a burning debate. With every low score off Kohli's bat, the decibel levels of discussion over his poor form increase

Vaughan applauds Babar Azam for his support to embattled Virat Kohli

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has applauded Babar Azam's support to embattled India cricketer Virat Kohli, saying what the 27-year-old Pakistan skipper had done is a "class act".