“It is very difficult to explain to people the fundamental thing that is to return to their family every time it has something that is intense, what happens abroad,” Kohli said during the RCB Indian Sports Summit innovational Lab before IPL 2025, when asked about the role his family had played in difficult tours.
“I don’t think people understand what value it contributes greatly. And I feel quite disappointed because of that because it is like people who have no control over what is happening are put in conversations and put themselves at the forefront that, ‘Oh, maybe they need to be remote.’ ‘
“If you ask any player, do you want your family to be close to you all the time? You will be, yes. I don’t want to go to my room and simply sit alone and splash,” Kohli said. “I want to be normal. And then you can really treat your game as something that is a responsibility. You finish that responsibility and return to life.
“As, there could be different situations in your life all the time. And that allows you to be absolutely normal. Not in a vague sense, but in a very real way that your commitment, your responsibility, and then return home, you with the family, and there are absolutely the normality in your home and family life and normal life continues.
“Naturally, it is reduced again,” Kohli said when asked about his personality in the field. “People are not happy either. I don’t know what to do, to be honest. Previously, my aggression was a problem, now my calm is a problem. It’s like, I have no idea what needs to be done, that’s why I don’t concentrate much.
“The type of person I am, the type of personality I have, yes, I have trends to go overboard. And I have never shunned my Wickt in an event, because yes, because, because it helps my team.
“For many people, it may not have been something they can process. But for me, it always comes from the right place. While batting, of course, it puts me in a different place. Because I do not have small regular events to get excited. I mean that the ultimate goal is finishing the game. And then, I can represent it in the way I got used to in the past. Again, things are happening naturally with me.
“My competitiveness has not decreased. So, I think that for many people, it is very difficult to process how competitiveness will be at the same level if the aggression is not. It can still be aggressive in your mind, but it does not necessarily need to express it from time to time for frustration, what I mean, in the recent past, which is not a great thing, it is not a great thing, I do not feel very good, it is not a great frustration.
Shashank Kishore is a senior correspondent in Espncricinfo
