Asia Cup: Virat Kohli brings focus back on mental health issues

World Cup has hit a hurdle as Virat Kohli has struggled to regain form. As the team management and selectors endure anxious times and fret over taking a tough call on Kohli, he has decided to talk about his problems and conceded he was "faking intensity over the last few months." In an interview to Star Sports, Kohli said: "For the first time in 10 years, I didn't touch my bat for a month. I came to realize that I was trying to fake my intensity a bit recently," Kohli stunned the cricketing world early on Saturday morning. "I was convincing myself that "no, you had the intensity'. But your body was telling you to stop. The mind was telling me to take a break and step back."

The revelation has come at a time when questions have been raised on marquee players frequently asking for breaks. Sources told TOI that the BCCI and selectors were reluctant to rest Kohli during last month's tour of West Indies as they wanted to zero down on a settled team for the T20 World Cup soon. "Virat not playing meant there is very little form and time to take a call on his position in the team. He pleaded with the team management and assured that he wouldn't miss any game starting with the Asia Cup," a source told TOI.

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Virat Kohli's return at the T20 Asia Cup and India's mouth-watering clash against arch-rivals Pakistan have become the most-discussed cricket topics over the last week. While the rivalry and result will take care of themselves on Sunday when the two teams line up in the UAE, it's Kohli who has been

"I'm looked at as a guy who is mentally very strong and I am. But everyone has a limit and you need to recognize that limit, otherwise