India and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) dashing batter, Virat Kohli, stressed that he is "actually" going through the "happiest phase" of his life despite struggling for runs in the ongoing IPL 2022.
He has not scored a century in competitive cricket for nearly three years, while the ongoing IPL 2022 would certainly be his worst ever season, but the right-hander said he is happy in his place.
Even in the ongoing IPL 2022, he has not been able to do justice to his legacy with 236 runs in 13 matches with one fifty to his name and averaging 19.66.
Kohli told Star Sports: “I'm actually in the happiest phase of my life. I am not finding any self-worth or value in what I do on the field. I'm way past that phase. This is a phase of evolution for me.”
The 33-year-old has bagged three golden ducks already and so far amassed just 200 runs in the IPL 15, with many suggesting he take a break, as they are not finding that run-machine in the present Kohli, but the cricketer insisted that the drive is still there.
He explained, “Not to say that I don't have the same drive, my drive will never die down. The day my drive goes away, I'll not be playing this game. But to understand that some things are not controllable, the only controllable you have are things that you can work towards, which is working hard on the field and in life as well and from that point of view, I feel that I am in the most balanced space that I have ever been and I am happy with who I am and how I am leading my life.”
Kohli added, “I am not finding any source of encouragement or disappointment by what happens on the field. So, this has not been about myself, this is about the fact that I have not contributed to my team's cause as much as I would have wanted to or I pride myself to, and that is something that always disappoints me, not what I do as an individual. It's because I don't want to let my team down.”
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On his transition from a captain to a player, Kohli said: “To be honest, it's different. I won't say it's hard because it's something that you're involved in regularly. So, the good thing is that my relationship with Faf (current RCB skipper Faf du Plessis) has always been good. We also have a leadership group in the team where we all share our inputs.”
He concluded, “Even on the field, when Faf is on the outfield and I am inside, I make sure to look after the fielding angles and the placement, so he's given me the liberty to adjust wherever I feel that there's a need, but always keeping him in the loop obviously. So, it's been a different way to look at the game, but because I've done it so much in the past, it's not something that I don't know how to do.”
(With PTI Inputs)
