‘If you start fighting that feeling, it grows stronger’ – Virat Kohli on how Sachin Tendulkar’s words of wisdom helped him fight depression

Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper, has opened up on his mental challenges when India toured England for a bilateral series back in 2014. The 32-year-old had a horrendous outing in the Tests as he managed only 134 runs in 10 innings at an average of 13.4 with a top score of 39. But it goes without saying, the Delhi-born parked aside the disappointment and made a comeback.

Kohli, who’s the owner of 70 tons and 110 half-centuries for Team India, has now talked about how the legendary Sachin Tendulkar helped him fight depression. Kohli mentioned that it was Tendulkar’s advice that helped him come out of the nightmarish phase.

My mindset really opened up from then on: Virat Kohli

“I did have a chat with him about the mental side of things as well and the thing that he told me was, in cricket what he experienced was if you are going through a strong negative feeling and if that is coming into your system regularly, it is best to let it pass.

“If you start fighting that feeling, it grows stronger. So, that is the advice I took on board and my mindset really opened up from then on,” Kohli told Mark Nicholas on the latter’s podcast ‘Not Just Cricket’.

The 2014 tour of England was a phase when the world came crashing down on Virat, who wasn’t finding any way to arrest his slump.

“I did (feel depressed). It’s not a great feeling when wake up knowing that you won’t be able to score any runs and I think all batsmen have felt that at some stage or the other that you are not in control of anything at all. And you just don’t understand how to get over it,” he added.

But fortunes took a turn for him. Not only did he return to form, but he also became the Test captain later in 2014 after MS Dhoni hung his boots from Test cricket during the tour of Australia.

Around six and half years down the line, Virat is an indispensable member of the Indian team with over 22,000 runs to show for his efforts after making his debut in 2008.