After an ordinary start to his Test career, former India captain Virat Kohli had played what he would later go on to claim to be his career-saving knock at Perth during the 2011/12 tour to Australia. Smashing his maiden century during the Adelaide Test which followed, he finally had started coming up with consistent performances, which had made him a certain part of India’s Test side.
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However, one of the lowest points in his career had arrived during India’s tour of England in 2014, where he couldn’t notch-up even a single half-century and ended the five-match Test series with mere 134 runs under his belt across 10 innings, averaging a paltry 13.40.
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Despite hitting his purple patch in the years to follow across the world, people simply could not stop talking about his 2014 England tour. So when India were to play in England next in 2018, Kohli, a much improved batter in terms of skills and temperament now was as nervous as one could be ahead of the first Test match at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
AB de Villiers’ words helped Virat Kohli calm down
During an interaction with Danish Sait in the RCB Podcast a few days ago, Kohli had stated how he was to play county Cricket (for Surrey) in England ahead of the tour. But, a neck injury he had picked up during one of the IPL matches earlier had made him decide against the stint. For those unaware, he was contracted to play three Championship games as well as five domestic one-dayers for Surrey during the time.
“I was a bit nervous before going to England, because I thought I need to prepare myself more. But, then I had a neck issue in 2018 already and I fell in one of the IPL games, and could not go there because it had got aggravated. So, I remember AB (de Villiers) telling me at that point of time, I spoke to him as well, that I am feeling a bit jittery because I’m not able to go to that county stint.
And he said, ‘This is not 2014, and you are not the same player. So, you’ll be absolutely fine’. I became very calm after that. I was like, ‘Maybe I need to believe in myself a bit more’,” remarked Kohli during the podcast.
Kohli scores a century at Edgbaston; ends series as the highest run-getter
Kohli then went on to remark how the English crowd at Edgbaston had started booing him as he trudged towards the pitch, but had been used to the conditions as the White ball series against England had preceded the Test matches (unlike the 2014 tour).
As things would turn out, he played one of the most memorable Test knock of his career that day – 149 off 225 deliveries, and even went on to become the highest run-getter in the five-match series, amassing 593 runs across 10 innings at an average of 59.30. He scored a couple of centuries and three half-centuries as well.
Such was his dominance throughout the series, that the next highest run-getter – Jos Buttler, had scored 349 runs across his 9 innings at an average of 38.77.
