'Remember AB telling me 'You're not the same player...': Kohli on De Villiers' words that stirred him up before ENG tour
Virat Kohli had a lesser-known interaction with legendary South African cricketer AB de Villiers before the England tour.
Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli silenced his critics by stamping his authority in England during the 2018 tour. Leading the batting charge of the visitors, Kohli capped off his best-ever performance against England away from home in the longest format. Kohli, who dominated Australia and South Africa with his elegant batsmanship, had struggled to live up to expectations in England before the 2018 tour.
With a highest of 39, Kohli scored 134 runs in 10 innings when India toured England during the 2014 season. Gearing up for the England tour in 2018, Kohli had also penned a contract with a County side Surrey in the lead-up to the Test series. However, Kohli failed to ply his trade due to a neck injury at the time. Interestingly, Kohli also had a lesser-known interaction with legendary South African cricketer AB de Villiers before the England tour.
It was De Villiers, who calmed Kohli down and his encouragement also played a vital role in the success of the talismanic Indian batter. “I remember AB telling me at that time. I spoke to him that I am feeling a bit jittery because I am not able to go and play in the county. He said this is not 2014, and you are not the same player. You would be absolutely fine. I became very calm after that. Before going to England in 2014, I had a good series at home against New Zealand. I scored a century and a 70. I was high on confidence," Kohli said on RCB Podcast Season 2.
Kohli's nemesis James Anderson dismissed the premier batter four times in 10 innings during the 2014 tour. In the 2018 tour, Anderson failed to scalp the wicket of the on-song batter, who dominated the entire Test series against England. With the bat, veteran batter Kohli not only won the battle against speed merchant Anderson, but the former Indian skipper also conquered the Three Lions in the five-match series.
“When we went to England in 2014, I thought I needed to prove myself here that was wrong in the first place. Because I went there to prove something that I can play in these conditions and not go there to kind of make my team win, that wasn’t my focal point. My main aim was to I need to prove that I can play here. I was always under pressure. And once things went back I was not able to find a way to get out of that. It was a very bad phase,” Kohli said.
The 34-year-old ended up as the leading run-getter in the five-match series. Kohli scored 593 runs in 10 innings during the 2018 tour. The ex-India skipper was followed by England's Jos Buttler, who scored 349 runs in 5 Tests against India. Kohli smashed two centuries and 3 half-centuries in the 2018 Test series between India and England. However, Kohli's batting heroics failed to inspire India as the visitors suffered a 4-1 series defeat at the hands of England in 2018.
“From 2014 to 2018, I did everything everywhere in the world and performed in every condition. But people just held on to one thing ‘Ohh but what about England’. That’s when I realised that probably I played cricket at a level of which I am certainly very proud of. I have won so many games for the team, but people are constantly looking at things which has not gone right,” Kohli added.