Everything was going perfectly till I was rejected in Delhi selections, recalls Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has admitted that leading up to the state team selection, he was scoring runs and everything was going on smoothly, where he performed consistently. He also added that the 2014 England tour destroyed his confidence where he thought he was not going to get any runs for the team.
Despite having scored 9489 runs in his first-class career, Virat Kohli recalled an incident where he was not picked for the Delhi state team. He added that it was despite his consistent form, where he was scoring runs. However, the rejection only ensured that the right-hander came out better as a batsman, with passion and determination. Kohli revealed that the rejection only got him more hungry and motivated as a batsman.
“The first time I was rejected in the state selections, I remember it was late at night and I just cried. I howled till about three in the morning and I could not believe it. Because I scored well, everything was going perfectly for me. I performed till I reached that stage and I was rejected,” Kohli said, reported Hindustan Times.
“And I kept asking my coach for two hours, why didn’t it happen? And I couldn’t make sense of it. But when there is passion and commitment, that motivation comes back to you,” he added.
However, since then, Kohli made his debut for Delhi in 2006 and became the skipper of the Indian team. In the Indian colours, the 31-year-old remembers the 2014 England tour as a ‘nightmare.’ Kohli’s highest score in the 2014 series came in Southampton, where he scored 39 and 28 in two innings.
“That is one phase where I felt like, when as a batsman you know you are going to get out in the morning when you wake up. That was the time I felt like that there is no chance I am getting runs. And still to get out of bed and just get dressed for the game and to go out there and go through that, knowing that you will fail was something that ate me up."