"Wasn't Doing Enough, Wasn't Happy...": Virat Kohli Opens Up On Lean Patch For Indian Cricket Team

Star batter Virat Kohli marked his return to his vintage after he smashed his 28th Test hundred during the fourth Test against Australia in Ahmedabad. The 34-year-old batter had last reached the triple figures in the longest format, back in 2019 during a Test against Bangladesh in Kolkata. After a gap of 3.5 years, Kohli not only brought up his 75th international Test ton but his knock of 186, helped Team India in playing a draw against Australia, which also booked their spot in the World Test Championship final.

Before getting his much-awaited century, Kohli battled through a lean patch and faced a lot of criticism during that time. In a recent conversation with South Africa legend and his former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate AB de Villiers, Kohli accepted the fact that for the last couple of years, he wasn't giving his best and wasn't satisfied with the decent scores.

“I was getting decent scores, but if you ask me if I was happy with what I was doing. I wasn't. I pride myself in performing for the team to the best of my ability, I certainly wasn't doing that enough. I wanted to score big runs, that's something that always propelled me, whether it was at home or away. I was doing that to a certain extent. But I was not having the same kind of impact that I had before," Kohli said on AB de Villiers' YouTube channel.

However, Kohli further said that his 28th Test ton against Australia gave him a "sense of calmness".

“So, when I made the hundred and converted it into a big one, that gave me a sense of calmness, relaxation, and excitement again. You kind of become comfortable with your game, and your thinking, and your heart is not rising before the next practice session. You eventually want to be in such a space.