Virat Kohli talks about ghosts of 2014 England tour, says I was thinking of those flashes in 2018

Virat Kohli’s 2014 tour to England was full of huge challenges. The Indian star had a bizarre tour as he could have just managed 134 runs in 5 matches at an average of 13.40. It was a hard time for the right-handed batter as pacer James Anderson got him out four times on that tour. But in 2018, when he led the Indian team tour to England, the tables turned a big way and Kohli produced a remarkable show in the five-match series. The captain was this time the leading run-scorer with 593 runs from 5 matches at an average of 59.30. Kohli made a big transition from his previous tour and this time he did not fall to Anderson even one time throughout the series.

In a recent podcast released by his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kohli talked about the ghosts of 2014 striking in his mind during the 2018 tour. “And I clearly remember before going to bat in the first innings (in 2018), my heart was racing because all I could think of (was) flashes of 2014 coming to me again and again,” Kohli said.

He added that when he went to bat, the crowd booed him, while he had to face James Anderson for the first ball. “And I was padded up, I have to bat next and then next wickets fall and I was trying to control my heart rate sitting outside. So I walked in. And, I remember 30-35K people inside the stadium started booing me. My heart rate went beating faster. They (fans) have an amazing ability to create an environment in that I have got no chance. I remember Anderson was the guy who had to bowl to me. And I was like what are the odds, I have to face, the first ball from him after four years,” Kohli said. “I was like please play the first ball. It was on the fourth stump and I left it. I became calm after that first bowl. I then got dropped on 22 actually. I got 149 then and I didn’t look back from there,” Kohli narrated his incident of the first Test in Nottingham 

India’s former captain Virat Kohli also made some other big statements including that of being considered a failed captain. The former Indian skipper has also said building team culture is very important.

“We reached the finals of the 2017 Champions Trophy, we reached the semis of the World Cup and finals of the Test Championship, and I was considered as a failed captain. I never judged myself from that point of view. We reached the finals of the 2017 Champions Trophy, we reached the semis of the World Cup and finals of the Test Championship, and I was considered as a failed captain. I never judged myself from that point of view. What we ended up achieving as a team and the cultural change, for me that is always going to be a matter of pride because tournaments happen for a certain period of time but a culture happens over a long period of time, and for that, you need consistency, for that you need more character than just winning a tournament,” he said.

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