World Cup-bound Kohli talks lessons learnt from IPL

Before leaving for the Cricket World Cup in the UK, India skipper Virat Kohli stressed on the need to be in the present while playing high-pressure tournaments.

India captain Virat Kohli at the pre-departure press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Ahead of World Cup 2019, India skipper Virat Kohli stressed on “the need to be in the present and win every moment” — a lesson he learnt while floating in rough waters with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.

Under Kohli’s captaincy, RCB finished at the bottom of the table with 11 points in the 2019 season. The string of defeats made Kohli realise that somethings are ‘not in one’s control’.

“After losing six games, it really came to a point where we told each other, this has not happened to anyone before. So I realised that after a certain stage, things are not in your control. You have to accept what it is and then work things accordingly. You have to be just present in the moment and try and win every moment if possible,” Kohli said on Tuesday.

“The more you expect things to happen, the more frustrated you can get, so that is what I experienced in the first half.

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“The second half was different. The players got together nicely, situation was different, backs against the wall, the most important thing I learned is even if you are in a situation where it is a must-win game, you can’t think in your room the day before. You just have to arrive on that day and try and do your skill to the best of your potential,” he revealed.

That, he feels, is the “only thing you can do in this sport, because as much as we don’t talk about it, there is another opposition playing.”

“There are 11 other players who are probably more passionate than you are on that given day, so you have to accept things the way they are and that is the biggest learning I took from this IPL…” the captain said.