Inner Belief Can Help You Score Runs: Kohli

While the first match for the five-match Test series between India and England gets underway today, the main debate has been the comparison between the 2014 and 2018 version of Virat Kohli.

Cricket runs: You need to focus and believe in your ability, says Kohli

Many cricketing experts have argued about what he had done wrong in the previous 2014 series and what he should do to avoid them in the 2018 series.

Many have made analysis from the perspective of the England’s bowlers to how to get the wicket of the Indian skipper cheaply.

However Kohli is not at all baffled by these and wants to go into the series with the right kind of mindset. While interacting with the media on the eve of the series opener, he said about how to keep his mindset in place and not bother about proving himself.

Kohli said that he had prepared for the tour long ago and has got his headspace in place and feels that patience and belief can determine a player’s performance.

“It boils down to belief. Even on a flat pitch in India, you might not believe and get out. I am pretty confident of my own capabilities,” he said.

“You focus on what you need to do. You need to have total belief in your own ability. We need to keep working hard on that. It all boils down to belief. If you have belief, you can score hundreds on a green pitch as well. In the last three years, I have been pretty comfortable with my headspace,” the No.2 ranked Test batsman stated.

When asked if the current No. 1 Test team will start as underdogs as England is always expected to perform well at home, Kohli out and out dismissed the entire theory.

“You need professionalism more than feeling like an underdog or starting the series as favourites.”

“Back in the day when I did not know these things, they used to bother me. I genuinely do not read anything now,” he further mentioned.

“I had no idea what was going on after the first two Tests in South Africa. When I walk out to bat, I have the the bat in hand. I have to be focused on what I need to do. I did not think I would be sitting here 10 years ago. Not in the frame of mind to prove anything to anybody,” Kohli added.