Virat Kohli Reveals Not Only MS Dhoni But THIS Former CSK Star Also Reached Out To Him During Lean Patch

Virat Kohli, one of the modern-era greats of cricket, has been in top form recently, not just in Indian cricket but also in the Indian Premier League (IPL). This is a significant turnaround from his forgettable period between 2020 and late 2022 when he struggled to score centuries and faced criticism about his form and place in the India team. During that phase, talks about the end of Kohli's dominance had reached its peak.

Kohli had also mentioned that only MS Dhoni had reached out to him during that lean phase, but in a recent statement, he revealed that Robin Uthappa, another veteran India cricketer, had also been in touch with him. Kohli had gone through a roller coaster of emotions during that period. He struggled to reach the century mark in any format, had a row with the then BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, and relinquished his captaincy position in Tests after being removed from that role in ODI cricket.

"The only person who, apart from my childhood coach and family, genuinely reached out to me has been MS Dhoni. He (Dhoni) reached out to me and you can rarely get in touch with him. If I call him on any random day, 99 per cent he will not pick up (the phone), because he just does not look at the phone. So, for him to reach out to me, twice it has happened now, and one of the things that he'd mentioned in the message while reaching out to me was that: 'when you are expected to be strong and looked at as a strong individual, people forget to ask how are you doing?," Kohli had said last year during RCB's podcast.

Kohli's form hit an all-time low, and he even struggled to score a fifty. However, his fortunes turned around after a thundering return in the Asia Cup, where he scored his maiden T20I ton to end his century drought. During a podcast with RCB, Kohli mentioned that Dhoni had reached out to him twice during that phase.

In his recent interview with Uthappa on JioCinema, Kohli mentioned that the former RCB captain's support had been significant amid countless people suggesting various alternatives to break the shackles without understanding that the problem lay elsewhere.

“Because I was not in a space where I was comfortable with myself, I was looking for all kinds of excuses that it must be happening because of this and that or technical changes. But you were in touch with me at that point of time and I beyond a point I figured out people cannot feel what I am feeling. You sensed something with my body language and asked 'Are you okay? Just wanted to check in on you.' That happened very rarely,” Kohli revealed.

“Everyone was like we observe this and this is the solution for it. I couldn't get the point across that whatever shortcoming is there is because of this (pointing towards his head). When you are not right mentally, you are all over the place. There were no technical issues because I have done this for 15 years. It can't be that all went to a standstill and the technical issues pop out right now. When I came back fresh and started hitting the ball again and people were like 'oh you made some serious changes'. But I didn't pick up the bat for six weeks," he added.

Kohli's recent resurgence in form has silenced his critics, but it is heartening to see that he received support from fellow players during his lean phase. Kohli's revelation about Uthappa's support is a reminder that the cricketing fraternity is a close-knit one and that players often extend support to their colleagues in times of need.