Image Credit- BCCI
Following his
game-winning innings of 77 against the Punjab Kings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium,
Virat Kohli spoke candidly about the two months he took off after Anushka
Sharma, his wife, gave birth to their second child. Due to his family’s
vacation, Kohli was unable to play in India’s home Test series against England.
“We were not in the country. We were at a place where people were not
recognising us. Just time together as a family, just to feel normal for two
months,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony. “For me,
for us as a family, it was a surreal experience.
“Of course,
having two kids, things become totally different from a family perspective. So
just the ability to be together, the connections that you make with your older
child, it’s amazing.
“I mean, I couldn’t have been more grateful to God for the opportunity
that I got to spend time with my family.”
Kohli spoke about how he enjoyed not being treated like a celebrity.
“And yeah, just
the place that we were in, I was telling the guys that when we came back, the
voices back home felt that much louder,” he said. “I couldn’t look up
because I was just not used to being called my name for two months. And then
immediately you hear these loud noises and then you’re back in it all again.
“But it was beautiful. It’s an amazing experience to just be another
person on the road and not be recognised and just carry on about life that
normally people would on a daily basis,” he said.
Kohli, however,
knows that he has to make changes to his game to keep up with the ever-evolving
nature of T20 cricket.
“Well I mean you have to [make additions to your game],” he said
while speaking about stepping out to fast bowlers and hitting them over cover,
as opposed to playing the grounded cover drive that he is so famous for.
“People know I play the cover drive pretty well so they’re not going to
allow me to hit gaps and with guys like KG [Kagiso Rabada] and Arshdeep [Singh]
as well, he’s tall. So, I mean, if they’re hitting length, you have to create
some momentum in the ball.