‘Hardly anyone came to help me’ – Virat Kohli recalls struggles after 2014 England Tests debacle

Indian skipper Virat Kohli had a torrid time when the national team toured England for a Test series back in 2014. The team, then led by MS Dhoni, lost the series and Kohli’s performance came under the scanner. The right-hander averaged a mere 13 from four Tests with a top score of 39. Barring their win at the Lord’s, the visiting team strained to make an impact.

The now 32-year-old, who’s come a long way since then, talked about the helpless situation he was in seven years ago. It was Kohli’s third year in Test cricket and he had his fair share of struggles. The Delhi-born went down the memory lane and recalled his travails.

Virat, who’s third on the list of highest century makers in international cricket, put forth his opinions while speaking to Dinesh Karthik in an interaction on Sky Sports.

Virat Kohli opens up

“To be honest before that Australia tour, I was treating every foreign tour like, more like an engineering exam, that I have to pass somehow and I have to show people that I can play at this level,” Kohli told.

“There I realised that once you are down and out, there was hardly anyone who came to help me, there was hardly anyone who was looking towards me and saying listen let’s work together and you know try to get your game up to speed, everyone was just going after me left, right and centre,” he stated.

“So, I was like I am playing to prove these people long, for what, I have got nothing to do with them, they literally have nothing to contribute in my life,” Kohli added.

Amidst the difficult phase of his career, Virat went up to Sachin Tendulkar to drag him out of jail. Later in 2014, Virat was one of the leading run-scorers in the Test series against Australia where Steve Smith also showed his sheer class and calibre.

During the very Test series, Kohli also took over as India’s full-time Test skipper after MS Dhoni retired following the Melbourne Test. Kohli is currently taking part in the five-match Test series against the Brits that started on August 4 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.