India pakistan match: With two fifties in the Asia Cup, Virat Kohli taking steps in the right direction

Virat Kohli needed to rediscover his love for cricket and this was the reason why he first picked up the bat as a kid. The break he took recently from international cricket seems to have made it easier.

With two fifties in the Asia Cup, the second coming at a quick pace before wickets at the other end forced Kohli to steady things towards the end of the innings, cricketing indicators are there to show he is taking steps in the right direction. . But, more than that, this was Kohli’s first press conference after stepping down as Test captain, which was a cheap opportunity.

Even when he was at the peak of his power, scoring runs at will, Kohli was testy in these performances. He took annoyance at certain lines of questioning, reacted to imagined trivialities and the atmosphere was generally hostile. After India’s second Asia Cup encounter against Pakistan, Kohli was calm, allowing himself to smile despite the fact that India had lost.

Asked who stood by him in his tough times, Kohli provided insight. “When I left the Test captaincy, I got a message from only one person I had played with before – MS Dhoni. Many people have my number, but no one has messaged me. “That respect, the relationship you have with someone, when it’s genuine, it shows in this way because there is security at both ends. Kohli also revealed that the team is now in the grip of the fact that Attempting to push the envelope in T20 batting will sometimes mean losing wickets in a clump.

Kohli said of India’s new approach, “If you see the way we are playing, it has given us the result we need, and the run rate has also improved in our middle overs.” “It is something that I, as a batsman, really paid attention to, and I knew it was an area that we needed to keep improving. We talked about how sometimes it’s not what you want it to be.”

Making technical changes is often not a difficult task for good batsmen like Kohli. What is difficult is changing the mindset. It is not easy for a batsman to overcome the fear of losing his wicket, as batting is a one-ball game. If a bowler hits a six, he always has a chance to come back and contribute on the next ball.

If a batsman loses his wicket, he can only watch the game from the dressing room and regret what has gone wrong. But, Kohli managed to overcome it. “When I am happy in my space, then I know what I can do for the team. My being in a bad spot is neither good for the team nor for me,” Kohli said. “I have taken some time to put things in perspective, it has made me realize that cricket is not the end of life.”

Originally published at Pen 18