‘I Was Nervous But AB de Villiers Calmed Me Down’: Virat Kohli Reveals Chat With ABD Before 2018 England Tour

New Delhi: Virat Kohli is arguably the greatest player of the modern era. The India stalwart conquered world cricket with staggering shows all across the globe and played a significant role in establishing India’s supremacy across nations.

Despite record-shattering performances, Kohli’s career has seen its fair share of ups and down. Post the 2019 World Cup, Virat Kohli went through a massive slump and failed to score a hundred for three years before turning on tables in Asia Cup 2023 and scoring a century against Afghanistan. Since then, Kohli has scored three ODI centuries, one against Bangladesh and two against Sri Lanka, and one century against Australia in the fourth Test of the Border- Gavaskar Trophy.

Kohli’s first lean patch came in 2014 when James Anderson made a mockery of him in England. Kohli registered scores of 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0, 7, 6, and 20 in five Tests at an average of 13.50 in 10 innings.

However, Kohli turned things around on India’s next tour to England in 2018. The batter topped the scoring charts and made 593 runs in 10 innings, without being dismissed to James Anderson. Kohli revealed that he had a chat with AB de Villiers before the first Test against England.

“I had a chat with AB de Villiers before the 2018 tour of England. My heart was racing before the series opener and I was nervous. However, AB calmed me down and said that this is not 2014 and you are not the same Virat Kohli. I was nervous before going out to bat in the first Test as all I could think of was the flashes of the 2014 tour. I remember James Anderson was the bowler who was running in to bowl and I was like oh I have to face him again after four years. I was just like please play the first ball. Anderson bowled on the fourth stump and I left the ball. I became calm after the first ball. I got dropped at 22 and scored 149,” said Kohli on RCB podcast.

Speaking of his horrendous 2014 tour to England, Kohli said that he performed well all around the globe between 2014 to 2018 but people just stuck with the 2014 tour and kept asking what about England?

“From 14-18, I had performed everywhere in the world but people just held onto my bad run in England. That’s when I realised that I played cricket at a level where people keep on looking at things which are not going right. When you focus on those things, you can’t look at yourself in the way you should look at yourself,” said Kohli.

ᴀ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ᴏꜰ ʀᴇᴅᴇᴍᴘᴛɪᴏɴ ❤‍????

Virat Kohli talks about overcoming the demons of 2014 and smashing his first Test ???? on English soil at Edgbaston in 2018, on @eatsurenow presents #RCBPodcast! ????#PlayBold @imVkohli @danishsait pic.twitter.com/d1o4P2xbcb

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 22, 2023