No point in competing if you don’t want to be the best: Virat Kohli

Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli is well known for his competitive nature and his aggressive approach towards the game has earned him praise from experts and fans alike. In a recent interview, Kohli recounted how he felt after India were defeated 4-0 in the away Test series against Australia and he revealed that it brought a huge change in how he started approaching the game. The India skipper scored 300 runs in the series with the help of a century but that did not help India’s cause as they were completely outplayed by the hosts.

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“When we came back from Australia in 2012, I saw a gap (between us and Australia). I realised, if we don’t change the way we are playing, training or eating, we can’t compete with best in the world,” Kohli told American sports presenter Graham Bensinger in an interview.

“No point in competing if you don’t want to be the best. I wanted to be the best version of myself and then based everything around that vision, my approach to the game changed,” he added.

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Kohli also revealed in the interview that he never shied away from telling people that he wanted to be like India legend Sachin Tendulkar in his growing up years. “What he did from the pure skill point of view, just the way he was able to bat, was so much more different to anyone else and that just fascinated me,” he said.

“I was like man, this is so much more different and it was so captivating you just couldn’t take your eyes off when he was batting. I used to go to these shops and get my packet of chips and my nibbles and just sit in front of the TV to watch him bat, and it was just pure joy. I used to tell people, I want to be like Sachin.”

(With agency inputs)

First Published: Sep 08, 2019 15:49 IST