India’s batting talisman Virat Kohli has said that the recent drought has affected his well-being and that he has been faking intensity to show that everything is fine. Kohli and other leading cricketers such as England Test captain Ben Stokes are opening up about their mental health concerns. Kohli himself recently said that he suffered from depression after a series of failures with the bat during India’s 2014 tour of England. The former India captain, one of the world’s best batsmen in his prime, has endured an extended period of slimming and has failed to register an international century since reaching 70 in a Test match in November 2019.
After a month’s rest where he missed India’s white-ball tour of the West Indies and Zimbabwe, Kohli will return to action at the Asia Cup. “For the first time in 10 years, I haven’t touched a bat for a month,” Kohli told Star Sports television in Asia. “Recently I realized that I was kind of trying to fake my intensity. ‘You convince yourself ‘No, I have intensity’. But your body is telling you to stop. Your mind is telling you to pause and back off.’ England’s Stokes said this week that he took an extended break from cricket last year to focus on his mental wellbeing after suffering panic attacks following the death of his father almost two years ago.
India will begin their Asia Cup title defense against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday and pundits are backing Kohli to return to form.”He looks at me as a guy who is very strong mentally, and I am,” Kohli added. “But everyone has a limit and you have to realize it, otherwise everything can be unhealthy for you. “I’m not ashamed to admit that I felt mentally low. This is a very normal feeling, but we do not speak because we hesitate. We don’t want to be seen as mentally weak. Believe me, pretending to be strong is much worse than admitting you are weak.’
