Virat Kohli on his high intensity: People from outside and even within the team thought it was abnormal but not for me

Kohli last played an international game in England on July 17.

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Speaking to BCCI.TV, he accepted the fact that he was not lacking his high intensity on the ground, and it was not coming out naturally.

“I want to make my team win at any cost and if that means that I am gasping for breath and i walk off the field, so be it. I mean that’s the kind of preparation I go through to be able to play like that. Wo naturally nahi ho raha tha aur mujhe push karna pad raha tha (I was not able to get that high intensity naturally, I was pushing myself to do it). But I just didn’t know it,” said Kohli.

Kohli didn’t dodge the fact that people from outside and even his teammates had questioned his high-intensity approach on the field and why it never felts abnormal to him.

“People ask me a lot, how do you do this on the field and how do you carry on with so much intensity. I just tell them I love playing the game and I love the fact that I have so much to contribute to every ball, and I will give every inch of my energy on the field.

“For me it never felt like abnormal. Lot of people on the outside watched me and even within the team they asked me how do you keep up with it, and I just said one simple thing that I want to win,” said Kohli.

Kohli’s highest score in his last five matches has been 20 in India’s loss to England in the rescheduled fifth Test at Birmingham. Having relinquished captaincy at Royal Challengers Bangalore as well, Kohli had a quiet IPL-15, scoring 341 runs from 16 matches at an average of 22.73.

On his day-to-day preparation, Kohli said: “I am a person, who wakes up and feels like okay let’s see what the day has for me. You know and be part of everything that I am doing through the day with absolute presence and involvement and happiness, and that’s what i have always been.”

Kohli gets Rahul’s support

Kohli’s recent form has been the talk of the town, with the star Indian batter going through a bit of a lean patch.

However, India vice-captain KL Rahul has come out in support of Kohli and said that the criticism from the outside has not bothered the former Indian captain during the troubled times.

“We don’t really give much importance to the comments,” said KL Rahul. “Everyone has their own opinion but it doesn’t really affect a player, especially a world-class player like Virat obviously be affected by what people are saying on the outside.

“He’s had a little bit of a break and he’s working on his game. The standards that he has set for himself, he has not been able to get but I am sure he is hungry as well to win matches for the country. That’s what he has done throughout his career – his mindset is always to win matches for his country.

“I am sure that good things will happen and we all eagerly want Virat to get back the Virat Kohli form. We are not worried as an Indian team.”