Wearing heart on his sleeve with an aggressive body language that doesn't fit the purists' narrative, Virat Kohli is least bothered about pandering to public perceptions since he doesn't want to act like a "robot" in intense match situations.
"You cannot be a robot operating for the sake of what people are going to write or say about you," Kohli, who's known for his aggressive brand of leadership said during the launch of cricket historian Boria Majumdar's latest book 'Eleven Gods and A Billion Indians'.
India were down and out during their last big series in South Africa facing a possible whitewash before there was remarkable turnaround winning the final Test followed by emphatic twin series win in the limited overs format.
"The most important is self belief. You need to have the ability to look at things in a very different way than anyone else. We kept looking at things from the other perspective like winning the toss and batting, despite opposition from all quarters."
Decision to bat first on a green top was criticised by many but it turned out to be a masterstroke in the end with the pitch slowly deteriorating.
"The team believed it's the best decision for us and we backed it. In cricket with technique and everything there's no one way of doing something. There's always your way and if you believe in your way, you can make things happen."
Chasing 241, the Proteas collapsed from 124 for one to 177 all out, leaving India winner by 63 runs.