Before the Asia Cup, which begins on August 27 in the United Arab Emirates, legendary Indian batsman Virat Kohli acknowledged that there was a pattern to his poor performance during the tour of England. This provided him something to work on and overcome during his downtime from the game.
After a sabbatical of more than a month, Kohli rejoins the Indian team for the T20I Asia Cup. During the tour of England in July, when he last played, he scored 16 and 17 in two ODIs, 1 and 11 in two T20Is, and 11 and 20 in the fifth Test's rescheduled match at Edgbaston.
He was then given a break between the West Indies white-ball tour and the ODIs against Zimbabwe. Given that he hasn't recorded a century in international cricket since November 2019, Kohli has been through an extended slump.
If Kohli plays in India's starting lineup against Pakistan in the Asia Cup opening on August 28 in Dubai, which has been labelled the "greatest rivalry" in cricket, it will be his 100th T20I appearance overall.
"There was a pattern to what happened in England, so it was something I could work on and had to sort of conquer. As you correctly pointed out, there is currently nothing that you can refer to as evidence that the issue is present."
"So, that's actually simpler for me to digest because I know when I'm batting good and sometimes when I start feeling that rhythm return," she said.
"So that's not a problem for me, whereas it was in England, when I didn't feel like I was batting well at all. I therefore had to put a lot of effort into one area that may be repeatedly exposed, which I conquered; however, at the moment this is not the case "declared Kohli during the Star Sports programme "Game Plan."
Kohli went on to discuss the significance of this period of his protracted dry spell for his career and how it has changed his attitude on both the game and life.
"I know where my game stands, and you cannot advance this far in your international career without having the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances and bowling styles."
"Therefore, this phase is simpler for me to digest, but I don't want to put this period in the past. I want to take something away from it and figure out what my fundamental principles are as a person and as a sportsperson."
"There will be ups and downs as long as I'm checking those boxes, but I know how consistent I can be after this period is over. I hold my experiences in high regard. I have never respected myself as a person more than I do now, regardless of what I have gone through in this phase or in the past."