Virat Kohli started his ODI career 14 years ago today
Fourteen years ago today, a boy from Delhi stepped out on the field for team India, and he never looked back as he became King Kohli for the world, winning millions of hearts across the world. After leading the Under-19 team to the World Cup title, Virat Kohli entered international cricket in the ODI format and became the most scored Indian batsman after Sachin Tendulkar.
“14 years ago, it all started and it’s been an honour”, captioned Kohli while sharing a reel on Instagram. The reel was about an emotional journey of Kohli right from the beginning of his cricket career, which includes an image of the 2011 World Cup win with his icon Sachin Tendulkar.
Kohli’s international debut was against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on August 18, 2008. From that day till now, Kohli has grown to be the greatest cricketer in the world leading the team India in all formats with great success. He has so far played 102 Tests, 262 ODIs, and 99 T20Is. From that, he has scored 8074 runs in Tests, 12344 runs in ODIs, and 3308 runs in T20Is. He went on to make his T20I debut in June 2010 and his Test debut in June 2011.
In 2013, he has reached the number one spot in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen for the first time. He also holds the world record of being the fastest batsman to score 23,000 international runs. His most runs in an innings is 183 runs in India vs Pakistan ODI match in 2012.
But Kohli has had a rough patch in the past couple of years as he had his previous century recorded in 2019. With the criticisms he is facing, Kohli is under pressure to take part in the Asia Cup. He started training hard in the gym two weeks before Asia Cup and he is physically fit too. He has been relieved of his captaincy of all formats since last year and concentrated more on scoring runs, but the pressure he is going through is high with huge expectations from fans.
The skipper who took his team to unprecedented heights says he has struggled with his mental health throughout his career. Replying to the criticisms, he opened up his mind and talked about mental health. Even though he had several significant records in his name and look physically fit on the field, handling the expectations of a billion fans is tough for him.
“I personally have experienced times when even in a room full of people who support and love me, I felt alone, and I am sure that this is a feeling that a lot of people can relate to. So, take out time for yourself and reconnect with your core self, it is definitely a serious issue and as much as we try to be strong at all times, it can tear you apart”, he said in an interview.
A celebrity like Kohli can also feel lonely despite all the glitz and glamour. Kohli says it is important for athletes to rest and recover from the pressure of the sport they are engaging with to reconnect with their inner selves. “If you lose that connection, it wouldn’t take very long for other things to crumble around you.”, he added.
Kohli is being rested for the last West Indies series and the ongoing Zimbabwe series preparing for the Asia Cup which begins on 28th August 2022. In the first game of the tournament, they will take on Pakistan. Let’s wait and watch how Kohli will perform in the tournament.
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