Cricket News

‘When you’re expected to be strong’ – Virat Kohli reveals text from MS Dhoni which helped him come out of his bad form

Virat Kohli has finally found his form back after being out of form for the majority of the year 2022. The star batter is the leading run-scorer in the ongoing 20-20 World Cup 2022 having 246 runs to his name at an average of 123. Recently, Kohli revealed that a message from the former Indian captain MS Dhoni helped him to come out of his lean patch.

During the Asia Cup, Kohli made the shocking revelation that MS Dhoni was the only person who had texted him after he announced decided to step down as India’s Test skipper. Recently while speaking on a podcast hosted by the Bangalore franchise – of which Kohli is a part – he stated that it was a text from Dhoni that was a reality check for him. He also acknowledged that it was the message from Captain Cool that had helped him in his dark days when his performance was faltering and he took some time off to get his cricketing mojo back.

“The only person who genuinely reached out to me was MS Dhoni. For me, that is such a blessing to know that I could have a such a strong bond and relationship with someone who is so senior to me. It is a friendship which is based on a lot of mutual respect. It is one of the things he mentioned in the same message reaching out to me, that when you are expected to be strong and looked at as a strong individual, people forget to ask how are you doing. So, it hit home to me, it was like this is it,” Kohli said in a video shared by the Bangalore Franchise YouTube channel.

Always been looked at as someone who is very confident : Virat Kohli

In his conversation with host Danish Sait, the Delhi-born cricketer said that he has “always been looked at as someone who is very confident, very mentally strong, and can endure any situation and circumstance.”

“Sometimes what you realize is that at any given point of life, you need to take a couple of steps back and understand how you are doing, how your well-being is,” he added.

Virat Kohli has often revealed in his interviews that he feels lucky to have been mentored by MS Dhoni during the early phase of his captaincy. He has also revealed that people have often tried to wedge his friendship with the world-cup-winning captain. Kohli will be seen in action once again as India take on England in the second semi-final of the 20-20 World Cup 2022 on Thursday at Adelaide Oval.