Before the Asia Cup 2022, questions were raised over Virat Kohli’s place in the Indian team as he was enduring an extended lean patch. However, the former skipper silenced his critics by finishing the six-team competition as the second highest run-getter with 276 runs to his name from five innings.
During the tournament, Kohli also ended his much-talked-about century drought as he slammed 122* off 61 balls in India’s last Super-4 clash against Afghanistan.
After regaining his form in the Asia Cup, Kohli has now started dominating bowling attacks. He is having a great time in the ongoing T20 World Cup Down Under, registering scores of 82*, 62*, 12 and 64* versus Pakistan, Netherlands, South Africa and Bangladesh, respectively.
Meanwhile, veteran India opener Shikhar Dhawan on Saturday (November 5) opened up on Virat’s rough patch and what it took for him to get out of that.
"Virat Kohli is doing very well in this tournament, so many congratulations to him. I wish him a very happy birthday, from the depth of my heart. India is peaking at the right time and I am rooting for them," Dhawan told India Today.
"Virat’s self belief is very strong, his mindset is very positive when you talk to him and its all about how you talk to yourself. You can be your best friend or your own victim, that is totally dependent on you. He is quite disciplined as well, he ate everything and quite fat and he changed all of that with his will power. This mixed with his skill got him success," he added.
Talking about the specialty of Delhi players, Dhawan said it was their bold attitude in the field that sets them apart.
"For the players from Delhi belt, that have strength and boldness to perform that is why Delhi players are special," he said.
"Fans believe in the end result and their emotions are molded by the end result, but cricketers do not think that way. They have their process, they believe in it and that is where the difference lies. As a sportsman, you have to have the strength and will power to shield yourself from the negative comments. If you start getting affected by it, your positivity goes away," he explained.
Dhawan revealed that Kohli had to dig deep to get out of his slump, but that is usually true for all cricketers.
"When someone does not perform, you go through stress. You dig deeper and go through self-reflection. Every phase in life teaches you something and it is about the journey and not the destination. Once the individual realises that it is about the journey, it is more fun," he concluded.
(India Today inputs)
