Mumbai: After an emphatic win in the ODI match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, Indian star batter and the architecture of the victory, Virat Kohli, unwounded the lean phase in his carrier that ran for more than two years.
He said that he had to be true to himself even if he was vulnerable and there was frustration creeping over himself, Asian News International reported.
On Tuesday, Kohli made his 45th ODI century, matching Sachin Tendulkar's record and 73rd international one.
During the lean phase, frustration took over him, he admitted, hampering him from taking out his desired performance.
In a video BCCI shared, Kohli, told Suryakumar Yadav, "But when it dips a little, in my case, frustration started creeping in. Because I wanted to play in the same fashion and people had this expectation, so I play like this, I should play like this, I will have to play like this. But cricket didn't allow me to play in that fashion. It was a different time for me. And because of that, where my game was, it was very far away. Because my desires and attachments had totally taken over," ANI quotes him.
He said that he later realised that he couldn't avoid being himself; he had to be true to himself and not be in denial. He said that he realised that when he is vulnerable and not playing well, he would be the worst player around.
He sounded advising when he said that if one feels a little bit of desperation, one should always take two steps back rather than pushing more. If they do, things will become messier.
While Kohli matched Sachin's record of most hundreds in ODIs (20), he surpassed the 'Master Blaster in most ODI hundreds against Sri Lanka by an Indian batter. Kohli has nine, while Sachin scored eight.