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Kohli opened up on what life has had on offer lately ahead of the series opener at the Opus Stadium in a conversation with Adam Gilchrist and Ravi Shastri.
Virat Kohli. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Team India get their ODI series against Australia underway at the Perth on Sunday in the first of the three-match series as star batter Virat Kohli returned to the fold.
Kohli, who has called time on two formats of the game, opened up on what life has had on offer lately ahead of the series opener at the Opus Stadium in a conversation with Aussie legend Adam Gilchrist and Indian icon Ravi Shastri.
“It’s been a long time off for me since I retired from Test cricket. And yeah, as I was just saying, just catching up on life,” Kohli began when quizzed about what keeps him busy in recent times.
“You know, I haven’t been able to do anything for the last, I don’t know how many years. And yeah, just being able to spend some time, some quality time with your kids, with family at home. It’s been a beautiful, beautiful phase and something that I’ve really enjoyed.”
Kohli has excelled down under throughout his career, and the stylish batter put his performances in Australia down to the relevance and sheer intensity of the rivalry back when he was growing up, when India and Australia were flagbearers of the sport boasting some of the most dominant sides in the history of the game.
“Well, I’ve growing up watching cricket as a kid when we used to wake up early in the morning and watch Test cricket in Australia, you’d see the ball flying off the pitch and, you know, the opposition in your face. And I used to feel like, wow, if I’d be able to step up in these conditions and against this opposition, it will be something that I I could be really proud of as a cricketer,” the 36-year-old said.
“And that’s the motivation that was set out for me early on, watching all the the greats of, of our game from either side, not just the Indian cricket team, guys like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, you know, even Virender Sehwag when he came in later, guys like that, that I really looked up to.”
“But the Australian set up as well, how they played their cricket and how you know they were in in your face all the time and trying to be intimidating and take the game on straight away. That was something that really inspired me to come here and, and try to do the same,” he elucidated.
“Quite tough early on. I, I found out in the early games that it’s, it’s easier to watch on television than be part of that hostile environment,” he jested.
“But I’m very grateful to all those times because that really shaped me as a cricketer and as a person as well. It really tests your mental strength and resilience because once you start dropping it from the crowd, you can’t escape. You got to come back every day,” Kohli added.
October 19, 2025, 09:40 IST
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