IND vs PAK: For the first time in 10 years, I didn't touch my bat for a month; Virat Kohli opens up about his mental health

India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2022: Former India skipper and star batter Virat Kohli has talked about his poor phase in the international cricket. In an interview with Asia Cup broadcaster Star Sports, Kohli opened up on why he needed to have a break and how he was trying to fake his intensity.

"For the first time in 10 years, I did not touch the bat for one month. I came to the realisation that I was kind of trying to fake my intensity a bit recently, you know you can do that, you are competitive and you are saying I have the intensity but your body is telling you to stop and it is telling you to take a break and step back. I am looked at as a guy who is very mentally strong and I am. Everyone has a limit and you need to recognise that limit otherwise things can get unhealthy for you," Kohli said.

"This period taught me a lot, you know many things I was not allowing to come to the surface. When it surfaced, I embraced it. I am not shy to accept that I was feeling mentally down, it is a normal thing to feel but we don't speak because we are hesitant, we don't want to be looked at as mentally weak or weak people. Trust me, faking to be strong is far worse than admitting to be weak," he added.

"I'm not shy to admit that I was feeling mentally down. This is a very normal thing to feel, but we don't speak because we are hesitant. We don't want to be looked at as mentally weak. Trust me, faking to be strong is far worse than admitting to be weak," he said.

Kohli's return to competitive cricket will coincide with his 100th T20I match. He has scored 3308 runs, including an unbeaten 94, at a strike rate of 137.66 in the shortest format of the game.

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