When King Kohli Went Through Depression, Felt Like World’s ‘Loneliest Guy’

Mumbai: Even Virat Kohli went through a phase of depression!

It was during the 2014 tour of England, when the Team India captain felt like being the ‘loneliest guy in the world’.

“Yes, I did,” ‘King’ Kohli told former first-class cricketer and well-known TV commentator Mark Nicholas on his podcast titled ‘Not Just Cricket’ when asked whether he felt low during that disastrous tour.

In the five-Test series, Kohli registered scores of 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0, 7, 6 and 20 in 10 innings at an abysmal average of 13.50.

Kohli revealed that he used to wake up feeling that he won’t be able to score runs.

“It’s not a great feeling to wake up knowing that you won’t be able to score runs… I think all batsmen have felt that at some stage that you are not in control of anything at all,” said Kohli.

“You just don’t understand how to get over it. That was a phase when I literally couldn’t do anything to overturn things… I felt like I was the loneliest guy in the world,” he confessed, adding that he felt he needed professional help at that stage.

“Personally, for me that was a revelation that you could feel that lonely even though you a part of a big group. I won’t say I didn’t have people who I could speak to, but not having a professional to speak to who could understand what I am going through completely, I think is a huge factor. I think I would like to see it change.”

One of the best batsmen in the world across all three formats, Kohli stressed that mental health issues cannot be overlooked as they can destroy a player’s career.

“Someone whom you can go to at any stage, have a conversation around and say, ‘Listen this is what I am feeling, I am finding it hard to even go to sleep, I feel like I don’t want to wake up in the morning. I have no confidence in myself, what do I do’?

“Lot of people suffer with that feeling for longer periods of time, it carries on for months, it carries on for a whole cricket season, people are not able to get out of it… I strongly feel the need for professional help to be very honest,” he added.