I do not think I have anything to prove to anyone, says Virat Kohli

New Delhi: India Test skipper Virat Kohli on Monday said that he is not too much bothered about the ‘outside noise’ regarding his form and is just focused on doing the process right and sticking to his basics.

India and South Africa will lock horns in the third and final Test, beginning Tuesday at Cape Town. The series stands level at 1-1 and there is everything to play for in the series decider. A century has evaded Kohli for the past two years and his last ton in international cricket came back in 2019 against Bangladesh in a day-night Test.

“This is not the first time that people have talked about my form, it has happened a few times in my career. England in 2014 was one of those phases. I do not kind of look at myself from the lens the outside world looks at me with. The standards have been set by me myself, they are not an occurrence from the outside world, and more than anyone else, I take a lot of pride in doing the best for the team and wanting to perform for the team regularly,” said Kohli while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.

“You have to understand that in sport, things do not go your way all the time but at the end of the day, I realise as a player I have been involved in key moments for the side and for me that is a matter of pride that I have been a part of partnerships when the team needed it. And eventually, those moments were crucial for us. Sometimes your focal point needs to shift,” he added.

Further answering ANI question, Kohli said: “If all the times you look at yourself and judge yourself on the basis of numbers, I do not think you will ever be content with what you are doing. I take pride in the process I am following and I am at peace with how I am playing and what I have been able to do for the team when there has been a tricky scenario. I have nothing else to worry about but the reality of the situation is that you want to have an impact on the side. I do not think I have anything to prove to anyone.”

Kohli who had missed the second Test due to back spasms, will be looking to hit form and end his two-year century drought in a crucial game.

“Yeah, look our focal point was to be as fit as possible, to be the fittest version of ourselves. But the reality of the situation is that we do play a lot of cricket and there is no denying that. As much as I take pride in being fit at all times but you do obviously take a lot of things for granted as well. I have been playing all three formats along with IPL since 2012. It is a thing that is being taken for granted that I will feature in all the games,” said Kohli.

“That is not how the sport works. Bhuvi played a lot of cricket for us 4-6 six years straight and Jadeja plays in most of the games India plays. These injuries are a natural occurrence, there has to be the right balance between quantity and intensity you play with. We want to compete at full intensity so quantity becomes all the more important,” he added.

Further talking about fitness, Kohli said: “More so now with playing in environments where we are restricted most of the times, I think these things are already being discussed and considered, things will improve as we go ahead. This is the only way to manage this, you do not want to lose important players. These are the few things I have observed that have led to players having niggles.”